“Think again” or people will continue to die. Balance urges Government to reconsider action to reduce alcohol harm
Balance has backed calls nationally for the Government to think again about a lack of national action to reduce alcohol harm.
It comes as figures show three times as much alcohol is now bought from off-licenced premises than from pubs and other on-licenced premises.
Balance has signed an open letter from the Alcohol Health Alliance to Health Secretary Wes Streeting after the 10-Year Health Plan for England failed to contain key measures to reverse rising alcohol hospitalisations and deaths. Balance says that while the introduction of mandatory alcohol labelling is welcome, this alone will not be enough to address the scale of harm.
Every year, alcohol contributes to around a million hospital admissions, and, in the North East, 52% of the adult population is drinking at increasing and higher risk levels, with evidence now clear that alcohol causes seven types of cancer.
Alcohol deaths are up 42% in the North East since Covid as alcohol companies bombarded the nation with drink at home advertising, with the worst death rates here in the North East. Alcohol deaths are also rising faster among women.
The Alcohol Health Alliance is calling on the Government to consider the following measures:
- Introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) to target cheap, high-strength products sold in the off-trade that cause the most harm, a measure that would not impact the hospitality industry. This has helped reduce alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions in Scotland.
- Bring alcohol advertising restrictions more in line with foods high in fat, salt and sugar to protect children and people in more deprived communities, where alcohol marketing is more prevalent.
- Ensure multinational companies make a fair contribution to the harm caused by alcohol by returning to an alcohol duty escalator linked to inflation, including ciders. The last time this was in place, deaths from alcohol-related liver disease fell.
- Strengthen health services with enhanced funding and support for alcohol care teams and greater integration of care pathways.
- Empower local authorities to regulate hours of sale and online deliveries of alcohol
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Alcohol is a major health inequalities issue. The burden of harm falls disproportionately on England’s most deprived communities. A lack of action in England over a decade has now allowed the rate of alcohol deaths here in the North East to surpass that in Scotland.
“But it is not too late to think again. 8/10 people in the North East think alcohol is a big problem regionally and nationally. It is time for the Government to take action to protect children and vulnerable communities, through measures such as Minimum Unit Price, which would not impact on the pub or restaurant trade but focus on tackling the very real problem of people purchasing cheap supermarket and off trade alcohol and drinking at home.
“Big alcohol companies are lobbying furiously to prevent any action to protect health. They use pubs as a shield but don’t ever say that cheap alcohol bought in the off trade is fuelling most of the death and disease.
“The public want and deserve action. By taking this seriously, the Government can make an immediate difference in reducing alcohol death and disease with visible results for families, the NHS, crime, and the economy.”
Balance has launched a Blueprint for Reducing Alcohol Harm”, a ground-breaking report calling for urgent national action to tackle the significant impact of alcohol on health, social care, crime, disorder, workplaces, and the economy which costs the North East £1.5 billion every year.
The Blueprint is supported by people affected by alcohol harm, the Alcohol Health Alliance, the Institute of Alcohol Studies and prominent leaders from across the North East—including Directors of Public Health, Police and Crime Commissioners, the NHS Integrated Care Board for the North East and North Cumbria, and the Mayor of the North East Combined Authority.
