250,000 Britons will be killed by boozing
UP to 250,000 lives will be lost to alcohol in the next 20 years if the Government fails to act on binge drinking, say top doctors.
Ministers have been accused of being too close to the drinks industry to take the problem seriously. Three leading alcohol experts have said that if the UK became as efficient as France at tackling excess, it would save 22,000 lives in the next eight years alone.
France has slashed liver-related deaths in 30 years from 33 per 100,000 people to nine today. But the UK has seen this death rate spiral from five in 100,000 to almost 12 over the same period. This figure is also almost double that recorded in nations with similar genetic backgrounds like Australia, Holland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden.
Writing in The Lancet medical journal, the doctors say the price of drinks must be raised and alcohol made less available.
Prof Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “How many more people have to die from alcohol-related conditions, and how many more families devastated by the consequences before the Government takes the situation as seriously as it took the dangers of tobacco?”
Doctors say the price of drinks must be raised and alcohol made less available
Nick Sheron, of the University of Southampton, and Chris Hawkey, of University Hospital, Nottingham, said Government announcements “give cause for concern” about their commitment.
They add: “Plans to ban the sale of alcohol beverages below cost (duty plus value added tax) and to increase duty on beer over 7.5 per cent strength are inconsequential because of the tiny fraction of sales that fall into either category.
“These policies suggest the Government remains too close to industry and lacks clear aspiration to reduce the impact of cheap, readily available and heavily marketed alcohol on individuals and society.”
