2004 Volume 1

Alcohol Abuse in South Africa

It is estimated that up to 30% of general hospital admissions in South Africa
Are directly or indirectly related to alcohol use.

A clinical assessment of general hospital admissions found alcohol to be a contributing factor in general trauma cases: in 38% of the admissions in the Cape metropolitan area and 49% in rural communities alcohol was found to be a contributing factor.

48% of trauma patients admitted to the casualty department of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on a Saturday night were found to be intoxicated.

Almost 80% of all assault patients - both male and female - presented at an urban hospital Trauma Unit in Cape Town were either found to be under the influence of alcohol or injured because of alcohol related violence.

In another study, over 50% of non-natural deaths received at state mortuaries in Cape Town had high levels of blood alcohol concentrations.

58% of people fatally injured in train related trauma (who either fell from or walked in front of trains) in Cape Town had high blood alcohol concentrations.

60% of pedestrians involved in collision traumas on the road and then treated in a hospital trauma unit were found to have high blood alcohol concentrations.

Over 50% of those who had died by drowning in greater Cape Town, over a ten year period, were found to have high concentrations of alcohol in their blood.

One study found that the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in Cape Town is 1 per 281 live births. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome occurs in infants born to women who drink heavily during pregnancy. Signs of this syndrome include mental retardation, poor motor co-ordination, hyper activity, facial abnormalities and malformation of organ systems. Amongst the poorer communities, the incidence of Fetal Alcohol effects is consistently high.

The Medical Research Council's National Trauma Research Programme reports that 67% of domestic violence in the Cape Metropolitan area was alcohol related. In a study of women abused by their spouses, 69% identified alcohol/drug abuse as the main cause of conflict leading to the abuse.

76% of domestic violence in rural areas in the South-Western Cape was found to be alcohol related.

The National Institute of Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders (NICRO) has reported that alcohol contributes substantially to the high incidence of crime in the country. Their study found that just under half of all male prisoners had consumed alcohol or drugs at the time of, or before committing, their most recent crime.

The Medical Research Council has found that alcohol has a negative effect on the business community due to absenteeism, poor productivity, high job turnover, interpersonal conflicts, injuries and damage to property. One study in the Orange Free State found that 20% of gold mine workers involved in occupational injuries had high concentrations of alcohol levels in their blood.

The Medical Research Council's National Trauma Research Programme has estimated that alcohol related costs associated with pedestrian trauma alone are in excess of $83 million per year. The Transport Ministry has estimated that motor vehicle collisions cost the country at least $1,5 billion per year and that at least 50% of these vehicle accidents are alcohol related. The economic costs associated with alcohol abuse in the work place are likely to be in excess of $1,7 billion (2% of the gross national product) per year.

The National Injury Surveillance System in its "Profile of Fatal and Non-fatal Injuries in South Africa" of May 2000, states that South Africa has "one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world" and "more than three-quarters of homicides perpetrated with a sharp object are alcohol related". Approximately 40% of firearm and 58% of blunt instrument homicide victims have consumed alcohol prior to their fatal injury. Not only are those perpetrating the crimes likely to be under the influence of alcohol, but the victims also tend to have much higher alcohol levels as well.