NHS: Smoking is Waning, Alcohol Rising

The Department of Health’s announcement that Britain could soon see its first smoke-free generation in 450 years is good news for us all. National health standards will rise, smoking-related cancers and illnesses will fall and the pressure on our NHS will finally ease a little. Unless of course something comes along to recreate the problems elsewhere – step up alcohol.

Booze Blues

A Sheffield University study has announced that alcohol misuse may cost the NHS £17bn over the next five years.

If the current trends in drink consumption continue it could result in more than 4 million hospital admissions in that time. Worse still, there will be a predicted 63,000 alcohol-related deaths in the next five years.

The research by the university’s prestigious Alcohol Research Group found that those numbers could be cut by simply introducing a 50p minimum unit price on alcohol. That would avoid 1,150 deaths and prevent 74,500 hospital admissions. The savings for the NHS would be more than £325m.

What’s MUP?

Minimum unit pricing sets a base cost for a single unit of alcohol so that it cannot be sold for less than that. Simply put, if a unit cost 50p as the ARG suggests then a drink containing 2.5 units could not be sold for less than £1.25. The more alcohol a drink contains the more expensive it would be.

Londoners dream of booze that cheap but MUPs are designed to hit only the cheapest alcoholic drinks.

Almost all drinks that are bought in pubs are well over any typical minimum pricing.

Value spirits or white ciders bought in supermarkets or off-licenses will be the hardest hit. Their low cost and high alcohol content make them a target for those with alcohol problems and young drinkers.

The British Medical Association has welcomed the study’s suggestions. The association has long lobbied for minimum unit pricing, which has been highly successful in countries like Canada. Nine of Canada’s 10 provinces have a form of minimum alcohol price.

Statistics from Saskatchewan suggest that a 10% rise in MUP would reduce alcohol consumption in affected products by 8.4%.

Drink, The Clink and a Tory Rethink

Unfortunately it’s not just white cider fans who oppose the UK adopting an MUP. Countries and businesses with investments in alcohol have tried to stop such measures.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron was accused of bowing to drinks companies when he abandoned his coalition pledge to introduce an MUP to England. Scotland went ahead with its own MUP despite five European wine-producing nations trying to block it – even though it probably wouldn’t affect sales of their products.

Unlike smoking, it isn’t just health that’s affected by booze.

A reduction in alcohol consumption would also reduce the amount of crime committed.

Sheffield University estimates there would be crime cost savings of £710.9m if a 50p minimum unit price was introduced.

The police are not the only ones who would find their work becoming easier. A third of the fatal fires that the London Fire Brigade has to tackle are alcohol-related.

With the promise of nationwide health benefits and savings for almost all our heavily-cut emergency services, why hasn’t the rest of the UK followed Scotland in adopting a minimum unit price?

The Conservative Government in Westminster is making extraordinary financial demands on the NHS but is not willing to introduce even the most obvious strategy to help.

by Jo Davey

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