VOA慢速英語:The Economic Costs of Excessive Alcohol Use

27 August, 2013

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

A new study has found that excessive alcohol drinking costs Americans more than $220 billion a year, that amount is equal to almost $2 a drink. But study organizers believe the biggest costs come from a loss of worker productivity.

Robert Brewer works for America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a public health agency. He helped to produce a report on the study.

The researchers used findings from 2006 to examine different costs linked to heavy drinking. They looked at results from around the United States and found a lot of variation in different parts of the country.

Alcohol-related costs include health care, the cost of trying cases for drinking-related crimes, and property damage from road accidents.

Robert Brewer says the biggest cost is lost productivity. Many people with a drinking problem have lower-paying jobs. He says they may also be less productive when they are at work.

"In addition to that, a number of people die of alcohol-attributable conditions. And many of those folks die in the prime of their life. So there's the personal tragedy there. But there's also a huge economic cost to somebody dying, for example, in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash at age 35."

The researchers were mainly concerned about the cost of heavy alcohol use. The study didn't look at the effect on individuals who drink a glass of beer or wine with dinner. Mr Brewer says the largest costs come from binge drinking when people drink a lot of alcohol in a short period of time.

The study was based on the economic costs of heavy drinking in the United States, but Mr Brewer says many nations have problems with what the World Health Organization calls "harmful use of alcohol."

"But I think that it is very reasonable to assume that harmful alcohol use is going to result in some of the same consequences in other countries, even if the costs associated with those consequences are different."

The study on the economic costs of excessive alcohol use was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Two years ago, a British medical examiner ruled that singer Amy Winehouse died as a result of drinking to much alcohol. Winehouse was only 27 years old. Tests show that she died after drinking enough alcohol to put her blood alcohol level at more than five times the legal drink-drive limit. The award winning singer had a well documented battle with drinks and alcohol.

And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English. Go to our website chinavoa.com to leave comments on our reports and to find more stories for people learning American English. I'm Christopher Cruise.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

A new study has found that excessive alcohol drinking costs Americans more than $220 billion a year, that amount is equal to almost $2 a drink. But study organizers believe the biggest costs come from a loss of worker productivity.

一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，過量飲酒每年耗費美國人2200億美元以上，相當于每喝一杯耗費將近2美元。但研究組織者認為，最大的成本來自于勞動者生產(chǎn)力的損失。

Robert Brewer works for America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a public health agency. He helped to produce a report on the study.

羅伯特·布魯爾(Robert Brewer)就職于美國疾病預防控制中心，這是一家公共衛(wèi)生機構(gòu)。他幫助制作了一份該研究的報告。

The researchers used findings from 2006 to examine different costs linked to heavy drinking. They looked at results from around the United States and found a lot of variation in different parts of the country.

研究人員采用2006年的調(diào)查結(jié)果審查了和酗酒有關(guān)的不同成本。他們查看了美國各地的調(diào)查結(jié)果，發(fā)現(xiàn)了美國不同地區(qū)的很多變化。

Alcohol-related costs include health care, the cost of trying cases for drinking-related crimes, and property damage from road accidents.

飲酒相關(guān)成本包括醫(yī)療保健、審理飲酒相關(guān)犯罪案件的費用，以及道路交通事故的財產(chǎn)損失。

Robert Brewer says the biggest cost is lost productivity. Many people with a drinking problem have lower-paying jobs. He says they may also be less productive when they are at work.

布魯爾表示，最大的成本是生產(chǎn)力的損失。他表示，許多酗酒者薪酬不高，這些人工作時的生產(chǎn)力可能也較低。

"In addition to that, a number of people die of alcohol-attributable conditions. And many of those folks die in the prime of their life. So there's the personal tragedy there. But there's also a huge economic cost to somebody dying, for example, in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash at age 35."

他說，“除此之外，許多人死于飲酒。這些人中有很多在自己的黃金年華死去。這是個人的杯具。但有些人死亡還存在巨大的經(jīng)濟成本，例如，在35歲時，和飲酒相關(guān)的車禍。”

The researchers were mainly concerned about the cost of heavy alcohol use. The study didn't look at the effect on individuals who drink a glass of beer or wine with dinner. Mr Brewer says the largest costs come from binge drinking when people drink a lot of alcohol in a short period of time.

研究人員主要關(guān)注酗酒的成本。這項研究并未關(guān)注吃飯時喝上一杯啤酒或普通酒對個人的影響。布魯爾先生表示，最大的成本來自于豪飲，即人們在很短時間內(nèi)喝很多酒。

The study was based on the economic costs of heavy drinking in the United States, but Mr Brewer says many nations have problems with what the World Health Organization calls "harmful use of alcohol."

這項研究以美國酗酒的經(jīng)濟成本為基礎(chǔ)，但布魯爾先生表示，許多國家都存在世界衛(wèi)生組織所說的“有害使用酒精”的問題。

"But I think that it is very reasonable to assume that harmful alcohol use is going to result in some of the same consequences in other countries, even if the costs associated with those consequences are different."

他說，“我認為這樣假設(shè)很合理，有害使用酒精在其它國家也會導致同樣的后果，就算與這些后果相關(guān)的成本是不同的。”

The study on the economic costs of excessive alcohol use was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

這項有關(guān)過量使用酒精經(jīng)濟成本的研究發(fā)表在《美國預防醫(yī)學雜志》上。

Two years ago, a British medical examiner ruled that singer Amy Winehouse died as a result of drinking to much alcohol. Winehouse was only 27 years old. Tests show that she died after drinking enough alcohol to put her blood alcohol level at more than five times the legal drink-drive limit. The award winning singer had a well documented battle with drinks and alcohol.

兩年前，一名英國驗尸官裁定，歌手艾米·懷恩豪斯死于過量飲酒。懷恩豪斯當時年僅27歲。尸檢顯示，她在飲用大量酒導致血液中的酒精含量超過法定酒后駕車限量的5倍后死亡。這位獲獎歌手曾和酒精做斗爭(即試圖戒酒)，這點有據(jù)可查。