ABSTRACT
Alcohol misuse is a major public health concern and has a huge impact on the economy, both in relation to healthcare costs and lost productivity at work. The term 'hazardous drinking' is widely used and is synonymous with 'at-risk drinking'. Hazardous drinkers are unlikely to seek treatment for their drinking, and usually they do not actually need treatment as such. What they do need is early identification and early intervention, based on proven clinical techniques. Interventions can be from a few minutes to several half-hour sessions; the term 'minimal brief interventions' is used to describe sessions of up to five minutes provided by a primary care health professional. Primary care workers should be alerted, by certain presentations and physical signs, to the possibility that alcohol is a contributory factor and should ask about alcohol consumption. The complications of excess alcohol use affect every organ within the body.
