GUEST BLOG: X-ing Out the J-Curve

Three Big Questions About the Global Burden of Disease Project’s Findings on Alcohol

by Carson Benowitz-Fredericks, MSPH
Research Manager, Alcohol Justice

Last month, The Lancet published a powerful study online ahead of print examining the use and harms of alcohol on a global scale. The study, part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-sponsored Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project, casts a startling spotlight on the ways alcohol impacts each country differently, yet hits everyone across the globe. The study was heavily covered primarily for how it debunks Big Alcohol’s pet dissemblance surrounding “healthy alcohol”. As significant as that finding is, however, the significance of the GBD findings goes far beyond that.

Q: What is special about the Global Burden of Disease’s report on alcohol?

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