Liquor-linked liver deaths rising in women, young adults: Study

Alcohol-related liver disease deaths are increasing rapidly among women and young adults, according to new research.

Researchers from the Universities Havard, Stanford, and Southern California (USC) attributed the rise to higher drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to increasing health problems like obesity and high blood pressure.

“The pandemic itself came under control, but the disparities that came with it continued and lingered,” said Dr Nasim Maleki, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School.

The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, based on death certificates from across the US showed that between 2018 and 2022, deaths from alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) rose nearly 9 per cent a year.

Between 2006 and 2018, ALD deaths stood at 3.5 per cent per year.

While men still had the highest number of deaths — 17 per 100,000 people — women’s death rates grew faster.

In 2022, eight of every 100,000 women died from ALD, up from three per 100,000 over the study period. Women’s death rates rose by about 4.3 per cent each year, nearly twice the rate of men.

One reason women may be affected more is because of how the body processes alcohol.

Biologically, women are less able to break down alcohol than men.

That means even a little drinking can have a bigger impact on their organs over time, the researchers explained.

Further, young adults between ages 25 and 44 were found to have the biggest yearly increase in deaths from alcohol-associated hepatitis between 1999 and 2022.

“Alcohol-related cirrhosis takes time to develop. So we may not see the true extent of the consequences until five, probably 10, years from now, which is very concerning,” said Dr Robert Wong, a liver specialist at Stanford University.

Recent research showed a spike in the number of annual alcohol deaths due to cancer.

Data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2025 conference revealed that alcohol-related cancer deaths doubled - to 23,207 by 2021 from 11,896 in 1990.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s lawmakers approved raising the tax on beer and strong alcoholic beverages on Saturday to 90 percent by 2031 from the current 65 per cent, state media said.

The tax rate on liquor with more than 20 percent alcohol content and all beers will rise five percentage points yearly from 2027 before reaching 90 per cent in 2031 under the National Assembly’s new legislation.

Levies will also increase by five percentage points annually for other drinks with alcohol content below 20 percent, which are currently subject to a 35 percent tax, reaching 60 percent by 2031.

“The gradual annual tax increase is not intended to change behaviour but rather to help consumers adapt more easily,” Hoang Van Cuong, a member of parliament, told the assembly in March.

Lawmakers also approved a new levy of eight percent on beverages containing more than five grams of sugar per 100 millilitres, taking effect in 2027 and increasing to 10 per cent in 2028.

Beer sales in Vietnam took a hit following the introduction of a strict zero-alcohol rule for drivers in 2019.

However, Dan Martin, an International Business Advisor at Dezan Shira & Associates, said Vietnam’s drinking culture has roots “that run far too deep to be uprooted by policy alone”.

“Rather than spelling doom for the beer market, these measures represent more of a speed bump than a roadblock,” he told reporters.

Martin said that behavioural shifts were already underway, with more Vietnamese people consuming alcohol at home rather than at traditional venues such as bars.

The trend “isn’t just consumers reacting to new rules”, he said.

Vietnam ranked seventh globally in beer consumption in 2022, according to a report by Kirin Holdings, a Japanese beer company.

Nearly 41,000 Vietnamese people die each year due to alcohol consumption, according to the health ministry.

The cabinet of Indian state of Maharashtra, a couple of days ago, gave approval for the launch of a new category of Maharashtra Made Liquor (MML) and also cleared hike in the excise duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).

This is expected to increase the annual excise tax collection by Rs 14,000 crore.

The prices of IMFL and foreign premium brands in the state are likely to increase by at least 50 per cent due to the hike.

The industry experts have however questioned the move of increasing taxes.

The state government has also cleared the decision to allow running FL 2 (vendor license for foreign liquor) and FL 3 (Licence for sale at restaurant or hotel of imported and IMFL on which Excise Duty has been paid) establishments on lease at 15 per cent and 10 per cent additional cost of annual license fee, respectively.

Agencies