About one in five ACT adults drink alcohol at risky levels but men are three times more likely to do so than women.
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The ACT Chief Health Officer's Report 2014 reveals there were 19 deaths in 2010 and 14 in 2011 where the underlying cause of death was due to alcohol consumption. Alcoholic liver disease caused most of the deaths.
The report, based on data collected between 2010 and 2012, found there had been an increase in people over the age of 15 who were treated in emergency departments for alcohol attributable injuries – from 5084 in 2009-10 to 5093 in 2010-11 and to 5574 in 2011-12.
But underage drinking appears to be declining with the report showing a decrease in alcohol consumption for ACT students aged 12-17.
Acting ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Andrew Pengilley said the evidence showed a worrying number of adults were consuming alcohol at risky levels.
"It is encouraging that the number of teenagers – 12 to 17 years – have reported a decrease," he said.
"I think there is both encouraging and problematic news there. Alcohol is a problem, it is a problem from the point of view of injury, it's also a problem from the point of view of the chronic health effects and that is something we need to look at."
About 21 per cent of ACT adults exceed the guidelines for lifetime risk from alcohol, higher than the national average of 19.5 per cent, the report said.
Calvary Hospital emergency medicine specialist David Caldicott said alcohol was the biggest drug problem facing Australia and one of the country's most expensive healthcare problems.
Dr Caldicott said the problem would not change until independent healthcare professionals were determining alcohol policy rather than the lobby groups.
He said research had shown alcohol accounted for more emergency department presentations than all other drugs combined.
There were several problems that came from excessive alcohol consumption, including a higher risk of falling or assault.
"There's a wide array of alcohol-related problems in the acute phase – from the behaviour which can be very difficult for emergency people to look after – through to the injuries that can be incurred through alcohol," Dr Caldicott said.
"The decisions people make when they're under the influence of alcohol are often the wrong decisions. And chronic alcohol consumption has got terrible ramifications. For example, we know alcohol is the principle drug associated with the king-hit phenomenon."
Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said in the report that risky alcohol consumption, especially in the 18-24 year age group, was emerging as an issue.
The report also revealed an increase in risky sexual behaviour among men, finding there had been an increase in unprotected casual sex between 2000 and 2011 as well as a decline in the proportion of those who always used condoms with casual partners.
STI figures reveal a significant increase in HIV notifications with 11 cases in 2011 and 17 cases in 2012 – higher than the yearly average of 10.8 cases between 2007 and 2011.
The report also revealed chlamydia was the most common notifiable infectious disease, making up about a third of all notifications during during 2011 and 2012.
There were 1283 notifications of chlamydia in 2012, up from 1261 cases in 2011. Notifications of gonococcal infections also rose, with 89 per cent of the notifications in 2011 and 2012 in men. Rates in the ACT were below the national average.
A partnership between the Population Health Division of ACT Health and the Education and Training Directorate is working to reduce sexually transmissible infections in young people.
