Bihar has had a complete ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol since April 2016. Bihar, the state with a prohibition order in place, sees a higher proportion of people consuming alcohol than Maharashtra, revealed in the first phase of the recently-released National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-20.
According to the NFHS report, 15.5% of the male population aged 15 years and above in Bihar consume alcohol. In urban regions of the state, 14% of men aged 15 years and above drink alcohol, while the percentage is 15.8 in rural Bihar.
Whereas, in Maharashtra, 13.9% of men aged 15 years and above consume alcohol, showed the survey. In urban regions of the state, 13% of such population drinks alcohol, while the percentage is 14.7 in rural Maharashtra.
The consumption of alcohol in women is highest in states of Sikkim with 16.2% and Assam 7.3% respectively. According to the National Family Health Survey 2019-20, the consumption among rural women is significantly higher than in urban areas in most states.
Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir have the least consumption of alcohol with 5.8% and 8.85 of men of 15 years of age and above falling on the list, respectively in the state and union territory.
The findings are part of a report that Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan released as the facts and key indicators on population, reproductive and child health, family welfare, nutrition and others for 22 States/Union Territories (UTs) of the First Phase of the 2019-20 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) on Tuesday.
The report has also found that consumption of tobacco is much higher in all the states as compared to alcohol. Mizoram topped the chart with over 75% of men consuming it. The lowest on the rung is Kerala and Goa with 17 and 18%.
The survey was conducted in 6.1 lakh sample households, involving household-level interviews, to collect information on population, health, family planning and nutrition-related indicators.
