Alcohol-related deaths to increase

12 April 2012

Research carried out for Alcohol Concern suggested that 90,800 people could die from drinking too much in the next ten years.

The charity said that the number of alcohol-related deaths went from 3,054 in 1984 to 8,999 in 2008.

If current consumption levels continue, a team at the University of the West of England found that 90,800 people would die by 2019.

Alcohol Concern Chief Executive Don Shenker said: "This is an unacceptably high death toll and the worst part is that all of these deaths are avoidable.

"Whilst there has been a small reduction in consumption and mortality over the last two years, the overall trend is a rise in consumption and a trebling of deaths since 1984.

"This rise runs in parallel with the growing affordability of alcohol. Without policies which more effectively target the cheap price of alcohol we will not get to grips with what has become one of the country's biggest public health problems."

England is one of the heaviest drinking countries in Europe with more than a third of men and a fifth of women exceeding Government limits, Alcohol Concern said.

The death rate has risen most sharply among 55 to 74 year olds since 1990, and the lowest rate and rise was among 15 to 24 year olds.

Meanwhile the British Beer and Pub Association insisted that our alcohol consumption fell by 8% in the first half of this year, the sharpest drop since 1948.

Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said: "Alcohol policies designed to reduce drinking in the whole population are misguided. Controls on the total amount we drink will not work. What we need is a new debate about effective policy measures that are clearly targeted at the minority who misuse alcohol."

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