National Alcohol Screening Day is a holiday designed to raise awareness about the harmful effects of alcohol and alcohol addiction. It’s a holiday that is not only used to educate people about alcohol-use disorders but is also used as a day to encourage people to screen themselves or their loved ones at one of the anonymous and free screenings that are set up on this day. The effects of alcohol on people’s lives can be devastating and not only affect them but also their friends and family as well. This holiday is observed on the Thursday of the first full week of April every year.

The History of National Alcohol Screening Day

National Alcohol Screening Day was first observed in the spring of 1999. This is when the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism started the first screening day. The following year, in 2000, 1,500 different sites participated in the event. Ever since then, the holiday has been observed by an increasing number of people and organizations.

Facts About Alcohol & Alcohol Abuse

As we researched National Alcohol Screening Day, we learned a lot about alcohol and alcohol abuse. We decided to share some of those facts with everyone reading this holiday’s description.

• The ethanol in alcohol is turned into acetate and acetaldehyde by the liver.
• Men are more likely to consume alcohol than women.
• Alcohol has been around for at least 9,000 years.
• An alcoholic beverage of fermented hawthorn fruit, rice, honey, and grapes was consumed in China in 7,000 B.C.
• Alcohol has been determined to be a risk factor for dementia.
• Red wine and whiskey are more likely to cause hangovers than clear liquors.
• According to the National Survey on Health & Drug Use, 7.9% of adults had an alcohol-use disorder in 2019.
• In 2014, alcohol-related deaths accounted for over 9,900 deaths, or about 31% of all driving fatalities.
• More than 10% of U.S. children live with a parent that has alcohol problems.
• Fetal alcohol syndrome in the U.S. was estimated to be between 0.5 and 3 cases per 1,000 births.
• Almost 48% of all cirrhosis deaths in 2013 were alcohol-related.
• In 2009, 1 in 3 liver transplants in the U.S. were due to alcohol-related liver disease.
• Drinking alcohol increases the risks of some cancers, including liver, breast, and mouth cancers.

Observing National Alcohol Screening Day

On this day, screening centers are located all over the United States. They’re located at designated businesses, some government agencies, some military installations, and some colleges. People can visit these places if they feel like they have an alcohol problem, or they can refer friends and family members struggling with alcohol addiction to these locations.

People can also visit AlcoholScreening.org to answer health questions that will help them determine if they have a problem with alcohol abuse. And finally, people can use the hashtag #NationalAlcoholScreeningDay on their social media accounts to raise awareness about this holiday and maybe help someone who needs help in the process.