Cost of diseases related to alcohol consumption in the Brazilian Unified Health System

OBJECTIVE To estimate the direct costs associated to outpatient and hospital care of diseases related to alcohol consumption in the Brazilian Unified Health System. METHODS Attributable populational risks were estimated for the selected diseases related to the use of 25 g/day or more of ethanol (risk consumption), considering a relative risk (RR) ≥ 1.20. The RR estimates were obtained from three meta-analysis. The risk consumption rates of the Brazilian population ≥ 18 years old were obtained by a national survey. Data from the Hospital Information System of SUS (HIS-SUS) were used to estimate the annual costs of the health system with the diseases included in the analysis. RESULTS The total estimated costs for a year regarding diseases related to risk consumption were U$8,262,762 (US$4,413,670 and US$3,849,092, for outpatient and hospital care, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Risk consumption of alcohol is an important economic and health problem, impacting significantly the health system and society.