In an article in The Lancet, the experts say that the current policy to reduce cheap alcohol sales falls far short of the measures needed to prevent hundreds of thousands of lives being lost to liver disease.
Commenting on the article, Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said in a statement: "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.
"We already know from the international evidence that the main ways to reduce alcohol consumption are to increase the price and reduce the availability of alcohol, yet the government continues to discuss implementing marginal measures while ignoring this evidence."
France had seen "phenomenal success" in cutting death rates, partly by curbing availability of cheap alcohol, claimed the article.
Writing in The Lancet, Ian Gilmore, a former president of the Royal College of Physicians, Nick Sheron and Chris Hawkey say: “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 that 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.”
They say that other countries with comparable cultures, genetics, and attitudes to alcohol had similar levels of liver disease in the 1980s, with around 5 deaths per 100,000 each year. But while in most countries this level has remained stable, in the UK it has more than doubled to 11.4 deaths per 100,000.
Continued on next page They predict that there could be up to 250,000 lives lost
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
