Health
(a) What is the cost of treatment for alcohol-related admissions – such as motor vehicle trauma, domestic and other alcohol-related violence, stabbings, gunshots, rape and mental illness – to the public health system, (b) what are the details of the costs of long-term care to the public health system as a result of alcohol-related harm, as mentioned above, and (c) what are the details alcohol-related harm, including the costs and hospital admissions from 2017 to 2021?
a.) We are in the process of improving our health information systems to capture the complete morbidity burden and magnitude of impact of alcohol consumption on our health department. It is important to acknowledge that this burden has both tangible and intangible impacts on costs. Alcohol contributes to increased development of active TB, worsens management of HIV/AIDS, leads to a multitude of possible cancers, causes lifelong Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) with the Western Cape bearing the brunt of this and being the capital of the world for FAS, and this is over and above the alcohol-related trauma and violence impact. This complex relationship makes quantification of costs extremely challenging with almost any estimation likely being an under-representation of the true burden of cost. As we continue to improve our health surveillance systems this understanding of cost will start to unearth the true cost burden that the health department has endured, as a result of alcohol.
b.) Question covered as per answer in a.)
c.) Question covered as per answer in a.)
