In partnership with the WA Network of Alcohol and other Drug Agencies (WANADA), Alcohol and Drug Foundation and Telethon Kids Institute, we have released the report ‘WA’s Hidden Crisis: Harm from Alcohol’ to highlight the escalating harm from alcohol in Western Australia.
The issue
A hidden crisis has been escalating in our state. Not enough is being done to prevent the unacceptable growing harms fuelled by alcohol in our community.
In Western Australia, alcohol-caused cancers are responsible for three deaths a week and over 1000 hospitalisations a year. Alcohol is also responsible for many other harms. Each week eight alcohol-related deaths, 402 hospitalisations, and 180 family violence incidents occur.
Our state has one of the highest rates of emergency department presentations due to alcohol in the country, with 1 in 5 emergency department patients on a Saturday night there because of alcohol.
Harms from alcohol have increased in recent years. Ambulance callouts for alcohol intoxication increased by eight per cent between 2020 and 2021.
It’s not only people who drink that are impacted by alcohol-related harms. Our ability to access urgent medical treatment, the amenity of our communities, safety on our roads, and the health and wellbeing of our children are all impacted too.
Harm from alcohol is preventable and robust evidence is available about what works to prevent harm. We can no longer accept the escalating harms that alcohol products cause to West Australian individuals, families, and the community. The time to act and prevent alcohol-related harms is now.
Read our report for more.
To read the report, click here.
Digital campaign ‘Alcohol fuels many harms’
The report ‘WA’s Hidden Crisis: Harm from Alcohol’ was released alongside a digital campaign ‘Alcohol fuels many harms’. The digital campaign will air on social media platforms and paid digital media channels until 31 July.
The digital campaign aims to draw attention to the harms from alcohol in the Western Australian community and urges action now to prevent them.
Here is a video from the digital campaign that highlights the impact of alcohol-caused cancers in Western Australia.
To watch the video, click here.
How can you help?
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We encourage you to share the resources within your networks on social media platforms or newsletters.
Together, we can help to protect West Australians from alcohol-related harms.
