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More Canadians wound up in the hospital because of alcohol-related reasons than heart attacks last year.
A report from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) said that around 77,000 hospitalizations in Canada were due to conditions entirely caused by alcohol.
That’s compared to 75,000 hospitalizations due to heart attacks.
“On average, 212 Canadians were hospitalized each day last year for conditions entirely caused by alcohol,” the report says. “This number does not include people who were treated in emergency departments without being admitted to the hospital.”
In the report, CIHI put together a list of quick facts from the study:
“Our report shows that alcohol harm is a serious issue in Canada,” said CIHI’s Vice President of Research and Analysis, Kathleen Morris. “There is wide variation across the provinces and territories in the number of hospitalizations for conditions entirely caused by alcohol.”
Alcohol policies vary across the country’s different provinces and territories, but the report says that alcohol pricing policies are the most effective way to reduce alcohol consumption and harm.
Few jurisdictions adjust pricing to align with the percentage of alcohol content, which would prevent things with higher alcohol contents from being sold at low prices.