4.6% of young Vietnamese people are heavy drinkers
Traffic police measure the alcohol concentration of a driver. (Photo: Viet Hung/Vietnam+)
On September 18, at the Workshop on alcohol use among young people organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Health Education and Communication, there was much worrying information about the current situation of alcohol use among these groups in the city.
A recent survey of 670 male students and young adults conducted by the Department of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, showed that up to 21.3% of people are tending to abuse alcohol, meaning they are beginning to become dependent on alcohol and are at risk of alcohol addiction.
In terms of level of use, 20% of young people are mildly addicted to alcohol, 16% are moderately addicted. Notably, 4.6% of those surveyed are severely addicted to alcohol.
At this level, people cannot stop drinking alcohol, accompanied by negative behaviors such as irritability when not drinking, being ready to use violence when drinking alcohol...
Regarding the duration of alcohol use, among those surveyed, up to 60% of people had used alcohol for more than 48 months and 25.5% of people drank alcohol at a level of more than 3 times a week.
Regarding the harmful effects of regular alcohol use, Dr. Huynh Thanh Hien, Head of the General Planning Department, Ho Chi Minh City Mental Hospital, said that drinking alcohol more than 3 times a week, with a quantity of more than 50ml of pure alcohol, can be considered alcohol addiction.
The harmful effects of alcohol also depend on the purity of the alcohol, for example, alcohol contains methanol which can cause blindness, because this substance will be converted into formaldehyde, which is used to soak corpses. However, in general, alcohol addiction will lead to many dangerous health effects such as: anxiety disorders, sexual dysfunction, depression, antisocial personality...
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Safety Committee, since the beginning of the year, there have been 45 traffic accidents in the city directly caused by drivers with alcohol levels exceeding the permitted level in their blood or breath. These accidents have killed 42 people and injured 10 others.
In Vietnam, after breakfast and lunch, many people have accidents on the way to work or back to work because of being drunk.
In this situation, experts recommend that young people need to be aware of the harmful effects of alcohol on both mental and physical aspects. When you show signs of alcohol addiction, you need to go to medical facilities for treatment and consultation. At the same time, propagate and remind friends and colleagues about the harmful effects of alcohol addiction.
The authorities also need to strengthen legal documents and clearly punish the use of alcohol./.
According to Labor
