Where is the alcohol strategy?

Kelvin Hopkins MP, the Chairman of the All Party Group on Alcohol Misuse, sees the present high levels of consumption, especially among young people, as a major problem. Outlining his views at a meeting of the Medical Council on Alcoholism, he drew attention to the fashion for binge drinking and our excess compared to other countries. Mr Hopkins made it clear that he looked to see these things addressed "when the national strategy appears".

It was clear that he was unaware of when this would be but felt that the reason for the long delay in its appearance was the result of a desire "to get it right". The Department of Health itself has offered different excuses, originally pointing to staff shortages - perhaps one reason for employing the man from Bass Breweries to draft the plan - and then to the re-organisation of the National Health Service. Some have commented that the delay may also be in part a result of the government realising that, in setting out to establish a national alcohol strategy, they were likely to end up in the politically unacceptable situation of pleasing no-one and alienating many of the interested parties: health professionals, the drinking public, the industry. A complicating factor has no doubt been the less than enthusiastic response in many quarters, including local government, to the proposed reform of the licensing laws.

Many of those at the MCA meeting in the Royal College of Physicians, including clinicians and representatives from organisations such as Alcohol Concern, Al-Anon, the Foetal Birth Syndrome Association, and the Institute of Alcohol Studies, had hoped that Mr Hopkins would be able to let us know when to expect the strategy to appear. Although this was not to be, he did express views to which, given his position as the voice of backbenchers on the alcohol problem, the government ought to pay attention. Mr Hopkins believes in a continuing high level of taxation as a means of limiting consumption and in curtailing promotions such as "happy hours". Questioned afterwards, he said that he believed that the government ought to move towards a per capita reduction in alcohol consumption. The Department of Health, as reported previously in Alert, has stated that the Labour Government, presumably at the behest of those lobbying on behalf of the drinks industry, has set its face against the consumption model.

Mr Hopkins' views also contrasted with those of the government on other matters. Discussing how to get the message over to young people that alcohol has the potential to ruin lives, he advocated a ban on alcohol advertising in public places and on television. In addition he was strongly in favour of lowering the drink-drive limit, a move which the government has rejected after apparently being in favour.

One of the dangerous results of the delay in producing the alcohol strategy was highlighted at the Medical Council on Alcoholism meeting by a representative of Alcohol Concern. At the moment treatment and rehabilitation services are starved of funding as all the money currently allocated to substance abuse problems is poured into the high profile campaign against illicit drugs use. Given that far more people are suffering from problems related to alcohol abuse, the consequences of this are not simply tragic for individuals but also place a further burden on the overstretched National Health Service. Local public health teams respond to the "must dos" received from government and, at the moment, alcohol treatment is not among them. Mr Hopkins said that this and other problems would at least be partially addressed were the Department of Health to issue an interim strategy, perhaps consisting of a number of major bullet points which would indicate the policy it intends to pursue.

The most recent information from well-informed sources indicates that the strategy itself will not be much more substantial than the interim measure adumbrated by the Chairman of the All Party Group on Alcohol Misuse. According to these sources, it has been decided that the strategy will not appear before Christmas so as not to be confused with the seasonal drink-driving message.