The State of the Nation - Britain's true alcohol bill

Alcohol Concern's annual report makes disturbing reading. Below we summarise its main points:

The latest figures for average weekly consumption show that 27 per cent of adult men and 15 per cent of women drink over the former recommended 'sensible' levels of 21 units (men) and 14 units (women) per week. The proportion of women drinking above safe levels has increased by 50 per cent since 1988.

Nearly half of these men and women are drinking at seriously high levels of over 50 units for men and 35 units for women putting both their health and personal well being at risk.

Among 16 to 24 year olds, 37 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women regularly drink twice the recommended 'sensible' levels for alcohol.

Excess drinking is not just measured by quantity consumed. Drinking behaviour and its consequences can also indicate problems with alcohol. A recent survey indicates that just over a quarter of adults aged 16 to 74 years of age are hazardous drinkers with the highest proportion (42 per cent) of these being aged 16 to 24 years. This means in the last year 1 in 4 people will have experienced loss of memory after a night's drinking, injured themselves or another, or failed to do what was expected of them, such as turning up for work the morning after.

1 person in 13 is dependent on alcohol in Britain – twice as many as are hooked on all forms of drugs, including prescription drugs (1 in 26).

The report shows that the number of deaths directly attributable to alcohol misuse – for example, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, toxic effect of alcohol, or liver cirrhosis - rose sharply in the second half of the 90s, from 3,853 a year in 1994 to 5,508 in 1999. Estimates of the total number of deaths where alcohol has played a part range up to 33,000 per year.

According to figures from the Department of Health, the number of deaths from liver disease, including cirrhosis, rose from 2,801 in 1988 to 4,718 in 1999 (a 68 per cent increase). Among men deaths from liver disease in this period increased by 94 per cent (from 1,494 to 2,904 deaths) and deaths of women by 39 per cent (from 1,307 to 1,814 deaths). In 1998/99 there were 78,900 NHS hospital admissions with a diagnosis of mental and behavioural disorder due to alcohol.

There is a strong link between alcohol misuse and mental health problems. A twelve year study of clients in a hospital based alcohol service reported that a consistent 30-40 per cent received an additional psychiatric diagnosis.

One of the most disturbing statistics quotes in the report indicates that 40 per cent of suicides in England and Wales, who had contacted a mental health service within a year of their deaths, had a history of alcohol misuse, according to a 2001 survey tracking suicides over a five year period. This figure rose to 53 per cent in Scotland and 62 per cent in Northern Ireland.

As far as accidents are concerned, one in 6 people attending accident and emergency departments have alcohol-related injuries or problems, rising to 8 out of 10 at peak times.

The Consumer Affairs Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry estimates that, nationally, the number of non-fatal alcohol-related home accidents increased from 13,262 in 1990 to 33,345 in 1998, an increase of 151 per cent. The number of non-fatal alcohol-related leisure accidents increased from 33,266 in 1990 to 71,050 in 1998, an increase of 114 per cent.

1 in 7 of all people killed on the roads, and 1 in 20 of people injured, are involved in drink-drive accidents. The number of drink-drive accidents has risen over the past two years – from 10,100 in 1998 to 11,780 in 2000. While the number of drink-drive accidents has decreased significantly over the past twenty years, this trend has altered during the past two years.

Alcohol Concern reports that an estimated 920,000 children are living in a home where one or both parents misuse alcohol. Between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of men who assault their partners do so under the influence of alcohol.

In a recent joint survey carried out by Alcohol Concern, Drugscope and the publication Personnel Today, 60 per cent of employers stated that their organisation had experienced problems as a result of employees' misuse of alcohol. Employers identified the following as arising from alcohol misuse in the last year:

  • Absenteeism – identified by 75 per cent of employers

  • Poor performance – identified by 61 per cent of employers

  • Disciplinary procedures – identified by 42 per cent of employers

  • Permanent loss of staff – identified by 30 per cent of employers

  • Damage to business – identified by 8 per cent of employers

  • Accidents at work – identified by 6 per cent of employers

Alcohol continues to be a significant factor in crime. In 40 per cent of violent crimes, victims say that the perpetrators were under the influence of alcohol.

Violent incidents in and around pubs and clubs accounted for nearly 1/5 of all violent crime. Figures from the British Crime Survey show that regular visitors to pubs and clubs were more than twice as likely to become victims of violent attacks than those who were not.

Over a half of male prisoners and over a third of female prisoners engaged in hazardous drinking in the year prior to going to prison. There is a clear link between hazardous drinking and re-offending particularly among female prisoners, with 81 per cent of hazardous drinkers on remand having previous convictions compared to 58 per cent of non-hazardous drinkers with a previous conviction.

As the Government continues to drag its feet over introducing an alcohol strategy, the cost of alcohol misuse to society which is highlighted in Alcohol Concern's annual report emphasises the tremendous economic burden.

A range of international studies indicates that alcohol misuse costs between 2 per cent to 5 per cent of a country's annual gross national product (GNP). Taking the lowest estimate of 2 per cent and a GNP for England of £542,700 million, Alcohol Concern calculated that alcohol misuse costs England £10.8 billion per year.

Individual UK studies make the following estimates for costs in key areas such as health and employment:

  • Alcohol misuse costs the NHS up to £3 billion a year on hospital services – this amounts to between 2 per cent and 12 per cent of total NHS expenditure on hospitals, according to figures from the Royal College of Physicians 2001).

  • Further costs to society include £3 billion a year arising from sickness and absenteeism at work, premature deaths, accidents and alcohol-related crime. While the above figures attempt to quantify some of the harm caused by alcohol, says Alcohol Concern, they do not reflect the full impact of alcohol misuse on families, individuals and the community.

The drinks trade spends £227 million a year to advertise its products and the latest figures show that household expenditure on alcohol in the United Kingdom is just over £32 billion per year.

Total annual Government tax revenue from alcohol sales in 1999 was £11.5 billion

This contrasts with just over £1 million spent on alcohol prevention and treatment – compared to £91.45 million on drugs and £33.75 million on tobacco.

The public understands the problems caused by alcohol. The State of the Nation quotes figures from a MORI poll carried out for the industry's own Portman Group: 88 per cent believe alcohol is a major cause of violence in Britain today. 81 per cent believe alcohol misuse is a major cause of marital breakdown in Britain today. 68 per cent think drink-driving is a major problem with 97 per cent supporting tougher penalties for persistent offenders, 83 per cent supporting random breath-testing and 80 per cent supporting stricter drink-drive limits.

In a separate poll, over 80 per cent of the public agree that "the government does not do enough to highlight the risks of drinking alcohol". 58.2 per cent either 'strongly agree' or 'tend to agree' with the statement that "alcohol misuse is a more serious social problem than drug abuse" and 80.2 per cent either 'strongly agree' or 'tend to agree' that "the Government does not do enough to highlight the risks of drinking alcohol".

The full text of The State of the Nation. Britain's True Alcohol Bill is available on Alcohol Concern's website at: www.alcoholconcern.org.uk