Alcohol death toll rising in UK

[Marshy]

University researchers are predicting that one person per hour will die from alcohol by 2019.

These are deaths attributed directly to consumption of alcohol, not alcohol making another condition worse, and they don't include road deaths from drink-driving.

Alcohol death toll to reach 9,080 a year, study predicts | Society | The Guardian

[Gold]

Alcohol death toll rising in UK

A not surprising set of results for the study.

"The report prompted fresh calls from medical leaders for ministers to implement tough measures to curb consumption, such as introducing a minimum price per unit of alcohol, as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) last week. Gordon Brown has ruled out such a move, but the minority SNP government at Holyrood is exploring its introduction in Scotland.

"Over the next decade alcohol misuse is set to kill more people than the population of a city the size of Bath," said Prof Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians. "Much of this tragic loss of life, often in young and otherwise productive people, could be prevented if our policymakers followed the evidence for what works. Confronting the culture of low prices and saturation advertising, along with investments in accessible, effective treatments for harmful and dependent drinkers could make a big impact on what is becoming a public health emergency.""

I think that trying to curb drinking by increasing the price or stopping advertising is looking at the problem from the distant point of the effects rather than the cause, until that is addressed nothing will change.

I cant say I know the cause myself but I feel that so many people are burdened by bad news, lack of aspiration, banality, and increasing control over our lives that it is this that needs to be addressed. The UK is not such a pleasant place to live these days.

Years ago I spent a lot of time in Sweden when alcohol was incredibly expensive and there were many restrictions on it, it could only be bought from the state through the Systembolaget and only at certain times, and to drink in public you had to also have a meal, hence the popularity of the Irish Coffee (a dessert!) . Did this stop people drinking? I went to many parties where people had made their own. People simply bought more than they needed at any time in order not to run out. The Swedish state was very controlling at that time, probably still is, even to telling people how many slices of bread to eat per day.

I think this article states the problem but it's clear that no-one really understands the problem or what to do about it.

[Marshy]

Alcohol death toll rising in UK

Gold;747023 wrote: I think that trying to curb drinking by increasing the price or stopping advertising is looking at the problem from the distant point of the effects rather than the cause.

I'd disagree, about the price factor at least.

Apart from cultural changes (huge influence, I know), I'd say the two most significant causes of the shift in people's drinking habits over the past 20-30 years are price and availablity. People's disposable incomes have increased significantly, and alcohol has become much more widely available in terms of the number of outlets and the hours during which it can be sold. In the 24-hour grocery shops near me, it's available 24 hours a day, four bottles of wine for ?10.

So it's cheap, legal, socially acceptable, available around the clock, and is an addictive drug. It would be surprising if we didn't have a problem with it.

[Starlight Impress Forever]

Alcohol death toll rising in UK

This is just all so very sad yet true, Marshy.

Alcohol is all around..........our society and indeed Gvt. seems hell-bent on promoting something that actually kills. So yes, I also think that it is too readily available and cheap alcopops and ciders etc. make it affordable even to those of the lowest or no incomes. Supermarket promos are especially shameful and corner shops are no better.

Why is it that this known killer is being made so accessible in the UK ? Further, what`s with all the advertising here ?..........it is not permitted to advertise cigarettes here since it is known that they can result in premature death, so why do we continue to have alcohol promoted here as if it were some sort of superfood ?

I am not familiar with the financial statistics, but I fail to see how our Gvt. can be financially profitting from growing alcohol sales, since the knock-on effect of those sales is an increase in the number of alcohol related hospital admissions and indeed deaths.

Few would vote for prohibition, myself included, despite being long-term AF. Afterall, we do have to consider those who can drink responsibly, for whom alcohol is not a problem, and we must also consider all those employed in the manufacturing industry.

Wherein lies the answer to this problem in the UK ??????? I have no answer, but surely `someone` must find a solution, since the average age of those dying from alcohol related diseases here continues to drop.

Star x