There is an urgent need for a new national alcohol strategy with a ‘strong focus on treatment and prevention’, says a new report from the Medical Council on Alcohol (MCA).
The need for a health system response to alcohol-related harms also calls for better access to community-based alcohol services, which ‘reach fewer than one in five people with alcohol dependence’, as well as more funding for alcohol care teams in acute hospitals.
Integration of care pathways also needs to be improved, the document states, to make sure people with complex needs get the right support. More than 70 per cent of adults and almost half of young people entering alcohol treatment also require mental health treatment, the report points out, while just under half of people who died by suicide while under the care of mental health services in the decade to 2020 had a history of problematic alcohol use.
The last alcohol strategy was published 12 years ago. However, 2022 saw more than 10,000 deaths from alcohol specific causes registered in the UK, according to ONS figures – the highest number ever recorded. Alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature death and illness among 15-49-year-olds in England, MCA points out, and ‘disproportionately affects the most socially and economically disadvantaged, exacerbating existing health inequalities’.
Without action, alcohol harms will be an ever-increasing burden on health services, says MCA, which is an independent charity of health professionals that is ‘not primarily a campaigning organisation’. However, its members have been involved in the creation of various alcohol-related guidelines, including the NICE quality standards and the UK alcohol treatment clinical guidelines.
The report ‘reinforces what we already know – alcohol-related harm is a growing and preventable crisis,’ said lead author and professor of addiction psychiatry at the University of Southampton, Julia Sinclair. ‘While alcohol consumption is often normalised in our society, the scale of its impact on health and social inequalities cannot be ignored. Now is the time to act decisively to reverse these trends, or we risk placing an even greater burden on our health system and losing more lives unnecessarily.’
Meanwhile, the tobacco and vapes bill has passed its commons vote by 415 votes to 47, meaning the legislation will likely become law. ‘Ending the harms from smoking is not a party-political issue; it is backed by voters of every political persuasion,’ said ASH chief executive Hazel Cheeseman. ‘This was clearly shown in tonight’s debate, where MPs from across the political spectrum voiced their support for phasing out the sale of tobacco to future generations.’
More than 240 people died while homeless in Scotland last year, according to the latest records from National Records of Scotland (NRS), with the number dying from drug misuse increasing from 89 to 100. Almost 80 per cent of deaths were among men. ‘Half of homeless deaths in 2023 were people aged under 45, with the most common age group for both female and male deaths being 35 to 44,’ said senior assistant statistician Beth Watson.
MCA report available here
NRS figures available here