Alcohol abuse is a common issue worldwide. But now, it has been revealed that it has started devastating lives of small children, as young as 10.

Hard to believe, but it is true that hospital in Northern Ireland has admitted children aged 10 years to give them treatment for alcohol abuse.

Moreover, every week, at least two young people are admitted to hospital to seek urgent medical treatment for excessive drinking or drug consumption.

The most troublesome were the statistics that the newspaper actually revealed this week, according to which the alcohol and substance abuse is becoming more common among children in the region with each passing day. The statistics have shocked health experts, who said in their statements that the figures collected by the newspaper stands so worrying that they have forced the authorities to call for a long-term strategy to tackle the issue.

Hospital documents have been released by five health trusts to put some light on the exact figures. The documents have shown that approximately 361+ youngsters aged 17 or below have been admitted in the hospitals in Northern Ireland to seek treatment for alcohol or other drug abuse during the last three years.

The above figures are just some from the entire list because it has not included the numbers from the Belfast Trust, the biggest in Northern Ireland. Failure of the trust to provide numbers for its adult hospitals didn't give us the exact figures of affected persons.

Some of the most shocking cases in the region because of alcohol abuse during the phase have include a 10-year-old boy who has been treated for alcohol intoxication in the Southern Trust and a 12-year-old boy who could not hold the burden of consuming excessive alcohol in the same trust area and died.