tent> Britain pays high price
for heavy drinking
Heavy drinking is causing more premature deaths, health problems, disorder and injuries, according to a new report.
It shows that up to 40 per cent of men’s drinking sessions technically qualify as ‘binge drinking’. On a typical Saturday night out they can drink three or four times the recommended guidelines.
The report says that this pattern of drinking is linked to up to 22,000 premature deaths every year, and is costing the country up to £20bn. It puts the cost to the NHS of alcohol-related injuries and illnesses at up to £1.7bn a year. Around two in every five A&E admissions are alcohol-related and deaths from liver cirrhosis have nearly doubled over the past decade.
Crime and disorder costs another £7.3bn and lost productivity costs £6.4bn. Almost half of the victims of violent crime say their attacker was under the influence of drink, and 45 per cent of domestic violence victims said their attacker had been drinking.
Chronic drinking is also taking an increasing toll on society. Chronic drinkers are often adept at hiding their addiction and this can put their families at risk of domestic abuse. Up to 1.3m children in the UK are affected by their parents’ alcohol problems, and they are doubly vulnerable as research shows that they can pick up these drinking habits in later life.
Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said that most people drink without harming themselves or others, and some can even get health benefits from moderate drinking. But more people, and especially the young, are drinking well above the safe limits.
“This is bringing with it health risks and a range of other social problems. Not least of these problems is the nuisance and disorder that are all too often a feature of our town and city centres.”
The report from the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit was produced as part of its work to produce an alcohol harm reduction strategy for England. Identifying the problems will help the government to develop long term solutions.
Binge drinking is defined as drinking twice the recommended guidelines in one day - six units for a woman and eight for a man. Many regular drinkers may notice little effect from these amounts, but their risk of harm is substantially higher. And many, particularly the young, drink well above these guidelines.
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