MORE than half of adults in Wales suffer harm from someone else’s drinking, a Public Health Wales report concludes.

A survey for Alcohol’s Harms To Others report revealed that 60 per cent of the almost 1,100 participants had suffered some form of harm or negative experience in the last year, due to someone else being under the influence of alcohol.

It also found that in Wales last year, almost one in five adults (18 per cent) had felt physically threatened by someone who had been drinking.

One-in-10 had property damaged by a drinker, and five per cent had suffered physical violence at the hands of someone under the influence of alcohol.

Five per cent of participants also reported being concerned about a child’s wellbeing because of someone else’s drinking.

The report, co-produced with Liverpool John Moores University, is the first into the range of harm caused to adults in Wales due to someone else’s drinking.

“People are increasingly aware of personal risks from cancers and other diseases associated with drinking alcohol. However, this report shows how alcohol can harm not just the drinker but also those around them,” said Professor Mark Bellis, director of policy, research and international development at Public Health Wales.

“Some of these harms are due to drunken violence but others result from accidents, threats or even financial problems when too much household income goes on one person’s drinking.”

The report reveals that a sizeable proportion of harm to others is caused by drinkers known to the victim.

“Even those of us who don’t drink, or who drink very little, will feel the effects of other people’s drinking from time to time, from low level disruptive behaviour to full-on aggression and violence,” said Alcohol Concern Cymru director Andrew Misell.

“When we’ve asked people in Wales, nearly half say that their town centre is a no-go area after dark due to alcohol-related trouble.

“Drinking is a feature of most people’s social lives, and the big drinks companies are keen to find more and more reasons for us to drink, but it has to be time to ask whether we want alcohol to play such a prominent part in so many areas of life.”