Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Aussie, NZ beer behind Pacific's alcohol problem - study

Updated at 3:44 pm on 18 March 2010

Alcohol abuse is on the rise in the Pacific and New Zealand and Australian beer is a big part of the problem, a study suggests.

The study by the Australian National Council on Drugs found links between alcohol abuse and peaks in domestic violence in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.

The council's executive officer, Gino Vumbaca, says alcohol businesses in New Zealand and Australia have significant commercial interest in the region.

He says these businesses and their respective governments have an obligation to tackle the Pacific's alcohol problems.

Mr Vumbaca says cannabis use is the second-biggest problem among the 16 countries examined in the study.

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