Alcohol abuse is number two among the eight priorities of the bureau.
Belau National Hospital recorded 152 alcohol related injuries in 2009.
Based on the Alcohol related injuries fact sheet of 2009 showed that there were 219 visits to the Emergency Room from January 1 to December 30, 2009 in which the patients were under the influence of alcohol.
The statistics further showed that there was no record of any deaths directly due to alcohol in 2009.
The statistic showed that the other 67 cases involved persons whose chief complaint was intoxication, withdrawal and gastritis among others.
The statistic showed that 18 percent of the injuries involved minors.
The statistics added that 19 percent of the recorded alcohol related injuries are women and 80.2 percent are men.
The age ranges from 16 years old to 68 years old.
The statistics however does not include injuries recorded at private clinics in Palau.
It also showed that 34 of the 152 injury related visits were motor vehicle accidents.
There were 12 who are females and 22 are males.
The data however only includes individual persons who at the time of the visit were under the influence of alcohol. The data also did not include persons who were injured by someone who was drunk at the time of they themselves were not under the influence upon the visit at the Emergency Department.
The data also does not show ant deaths that may have been due to a chronic condition deriving from alcoholism.
In the 5th Public Health Convention of the BOPH last week, Patrol Division chief Ismael Aguon was the speaker for Alcohol Related Injuries/DUI. He discussed the related alcohol abuse accidents recorded in his office mostly involved minors.
Aside from Alcohol abuse, the other eight thematic areas of the bureau which will prioritized are: Obesity, Tobacco Use, Immunization, Depression, Injury./Violence, Emerging and Re-emerging infections and Healthy Workplace.
