Alcohol-related mortality during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran: a commentary on happening a crisis amid another crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: COVID-19 is the name of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, which appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and spread quickly around the world. One of the prescribed ways to control and reduce the prevalence of COVID-19 was to use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer/antiseptic with at least 70% ethanol alcohol. Unfortunately, with the introduction of alcohol to control COVID-19 in Iran, a growth of nonstandard and counterfeit alcohol consumption was witnessed. Nonstandard alcohol consumption in Iran has led to a significant increase in alcohol-related deaths during the outbreak of COVID-19. Methods and materials: This commentary presents the statistics reported by official online media about alcohol poisoning in Iran.Results: This commentary briefly describes why the outbreak happened and presents some policy implications, such as implementing a real-time Alcohol Surveillance System (ASS) to monitor, control, and adopt tailored efforts to reduce alcohol use and minimize its side effects.Conclusion: Health policymakers and researchers need to design and communicate the overall structure of the alcohol surveillance system.