Assam women top list of alcohol consumers in India, says health ministry survey
28-October-2020

Women from Assam consume much more alcohol than their counterparts across the country, according to the findings of a recent survey released by the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW).

The ministry�s 2019-20 data showed that 26.3% women in Assam, who are in the 15-49 years� age category, consume alcohol, which is the highest among all states and union territories (UTs).

The corresponding national figure in that category is 1.2%.

Meghalaya is at 8.7%.

All figures for all other states and union territories are under 10%.

The figures included in the report are from the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4), which was conducted in 2015-16.

However, the NFHS-5 report for 2018-19 is yet to be released.

The data for NFHS-3, which was conducted in 2005-06, had revealed 7.5% women in Assam in the 15-49 years� age category had reported to have consumed alcohol.

Five states were ahead of Assam in that list, headed by women from Arunachal Pradesh (33.6%), Sikkim (19.1%), Chhattisgarh (11.4%), Jharkhand (9.9%) and Tripura (9.6%).

The corresponding figure for Assam had jumped from 7.5% in NFHS-3 to 26.3% in NFHS-4.

But there was a dip in alcohol consumption in the similar category in Arunachal Pradesh to 3.3%, Sikkim (0.3%), Chhattisgarh (0.2%), Jharkhand (0.3%) and Tripura (0.8%).

Around 35.6% men in Assam in the 15-49 years� age category consume alcohol, as compared to the national figure of 29.2%.

Men from Arunachal Pradesh are found to be most partial towards alcohol at 59%.

The report cited that 44.8% women in Assam consume alcohol around once a week, as compared to the national figure of 35%.

Similarly, 51.9% of men from Assam consume alcohol once a week, while the pan-India statistics is 40.7%.

Prevalence of tobacco use among men and women in the 15-49 years� age category in Assam was recorded at 17.7% and 60%, respectively, as compared to 6.8% and 44.5%, respectively, in the rest of the country.