VOA慢速英语2013 过量饮酒的经济成本

The Economic Costs of Excessive Alcohol Use 过量饮酒的经济成本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

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.

一项新的研究发现，过量饮酒每年耗费美国人2200亿美元以上，相当于每喝一杯耗费将近2美元。但研究组织者认为，最大的成本来自于劳动者生产力的损失。

Robert Brewer 1 works for America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a public health agency. He helped to produce a report on the study.

罗伯特·布鲁尔（Robert Brewer）就职于美国疾病预防控制中心，这是一家公共卫生机构。他帮助制作了一份该研究的报告。

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.

研究人员采用2006年的调查结果审查了和酗酒有关的不同成本。他们查看了美国各地的调查结果，发现了美国不同地区的很多变化。

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

饮酒相关成本包括医疗保健、审理饮酒相关犯罪案件的费用，以及道路交通事故的财产损失。

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.

布鲁尔表示，最大的成本是生产力的损失。他表示，许多酗酒者薪酬不高，这些人工作时的生产力可能也较低。

"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."

他说，“除此之外，许多人死于饮酒。这些人中有很多在自己的黄金年华死去。这是个人的杯具。但有些人死亡还存在巨大的经济成本，例如，在35岁时，和饮酒相关的车祸。”

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.

研究人员主要关注酗酒的成本。这项研究并未关注吃饭时喝上一杯啤酒或普通酒对个人的影响。布鲁尔先生表示，最大的成本来自于豪饮，即人们在很短时间内喝很多酒。

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."

这项研究以美国酗酒的经济成本为基础，但布鲁尔先生表示，许多国家都存在世界卫生组织所说的“有害使用酒精”的问题。

"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."

他说，“我认为这样假设很合理，有害使用酒精在其它国家也会导致同样的后果，就算与这些后果相关的成本是不同的。”

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

这项有关过量使用酒精经济成本的研究发表在《美国预防医学杂志》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.

两年前，一名英国验尸官裁定，歌手艾米·怀恩豪斯死于过量饮酒。怀恩豪斯当时年仅27岁。尸检显示，她在饮用大量酒导致血液中的酒精含量超过法定酒后驾车限量的5倍后死亡。这位获奖歌手曾和酒精做斗争（即试图戒酒），这点有据可查。