‘Serious action’ needed to tackle toll of alcohol abuse

In 2011, about 66 per cent of the 8,748 alcohol-related deaths in the UK were men and around 33 per cent were women, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

In England and Wales, excessive drink consumption accounted for 1.5 per cent of deaths.

Death rates were highest for people aged between 55 and 59 and lowest for those under 30, the ONS said.

Over the last decade, alcohol-related death rates have varied from region to region across England and tended to be highest in the North and lowest in the East of England.

But in 2011, statistics show that Welsh women were much more likely to die from alcohol-related causes, including liver disease and alcohol poisoning, than women in England.

Of every 100,000 Welsh women, 9.5 died due to alcohol consumption compared with 7.6 in English women.

Eric Appleby, chief executive of charity Alcohol Concern, said: “These numbers are still terrifyingly high and show how desperately we need the Government to take serious action on alcohol misuse. If these numbers of people died in any other way we’d consider it a national emergency and take immediate action to stop it from happening.

“With the Government’s new alcohol strategy we have an opportunity to make the kinds of changes, like introducing minimum unit pricing and tougher licensing regulations, which have the potential to save lives, reduce crime and save the economy millions. We’re urging the Government to act bravely and make those changes.”

Elaine Hindal, chief executive of alcohol education charity Drinkaware, said: “This is a stark reminder that alcohol misuse can have fatal consequences.

“Regularly drinking above the guidelines, often done unwittingly, puts people at increased risk of developing long-term health harms including cancer, heart and liver disease. That’s why it’s important people check to see if they are drinking to harmful levels and take action to cut back.”

Henry Ashworth, chief executive of the Portman Group – the social responsibility body for UK alcohol producers – said: “It is encouraging that alcohol-related death rates are at their lowest since 2002, but what is deeply significant is that the North suffers disproportionately more from alcohol harms than any other region.

“This is a clear sign that we must focus on developing local alcohol partnerships which offer tailored solutions for local areas and move away from the calls for blanket UK wide policies such as restricting availability and marketing.”

But Public Health Minister Anna Soubry said: “The number of deaths remains unacceptably high, even though the long term rise has flattened off in line with consumption levels.

“That’s why we are taking action to end the unacceptable availability of cheap alcohol by introducing a minimum unit price.”