According to WHO, morbidity attributable to alcohol in countries with an established market economy (10.3% of disability adjusted life years) comes second only to that of tobacco (11.7%). Liver disease is responsible for 70% of the directly recorded mortality from alcohol, and perhaps a quarter of the total attributable mortality; the true total is uncertain but is probably between 18000 and 30000 per year in England and Wales. Alcohol causes around 80% of deaths from liver disease, and trends in liver mortality reflect trends in overall alcohol-related harm; liver death rates are a measure of the damage caused to society by alcohol, and a good measure for the success of alcohol policy.
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