Government urged to tackle very cheap high-strength alcohol problem

Health campaigners urge Government to prevent tragic loss of life by tackling very cheap high-strength alcohol this Alcohol Awareness Week

Public health campaigners, Healthier Futures, and senior medical specialists, are urging the Government to commit to save lives by tackling very cheap alcohol as part of this year’s Alcohol Awareness Week.

Illness and disability caused by alcohol continue to mar the lives of some of the most vulnerable individuals and families. Shockingly, the most recent figures show that as many as 66,790 hospital admissions due to alcohol a year (2014/15) across Greater Manchester. That’s 183 people attending hospital every day due excessive drinking.

Harm from excessive alcohol is not limited to health and the NHS. The total cost of alcohol harm a year to the Greater Manchester is, £1.169bn, equivalent to £436 for every man woman and child living in Greater Manchester which includes crime, loss of work, social service costs. Government figures estimate that alcohol harm costs UK society at least £21 billion a year.

In addition, this Alcohol Awareness Week, health organisations want to raise awareness that, while alcohol causes liver disease, it is also a significant cause of more than 60 conditions such as breast, mouth, throat and stomach cancers, as well as high blood pressure and depression.

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement (23 November), in which he sets out financial and tax plans, provides an opportunity for the Chancellor to commit to tax reforms for high-strength ‘white ciders’.

Andrea Crossfield, Chief Executive of Healthier Futures, said: "These industrial high strength white ciders are subject to very low duty at 5p per unit. Producers use the current duty system to sell more of these harmful drinks to the most vulnerable in our communities. We need the Government to take action to link the tax paid on alcoholic drinks to the amount of alcohol it contains."

A report published only two weeks ago highlighted that for the price of just one cinema ticket you can drink 53 shots of alcohol. The survey - part of a national Alcohol Health Alliance report – analysed more than 200 products in supermarkets and off licenses across Greater Manchester. It found that products were being sold for as little as 18p per unit, and that of the ten cheapest alcoholic drinks, eight were cheap ciders.

The North West is not out of sync with the rest of the country, with very cheap alcohol found in all regions surveyed– the cheapest being located in London at 16p per unit.

Dr Kieran Moriarty Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Royal Bolton Hospital and member of the national Alcohol Health Alliance, an influential group of more than 40 medical and health associations, said: "The current situation is unacceptable and unsustainable – we need to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. Drinking excessive alcohol can devastate the lives of individuals, of their children, of their partner and wider family. The impacts are terrible – and can mean losing income, becoming very ill, depressed or a victim of crime. Reforming the tax system to prevent the sale of alcohol for less than the price of water is an important part of a wider basket of measures needed to reduce the suffering of individuals and the huge cost to our public services."