100 people a week die from alcohol-related liver disease in England and Wales

The rising toll of alcohol-related liver disease was highlighted by the British Liver Trust after mortality statistics for 2010 were released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showing an 11% increase in alcohol-related liver deaths since 2005. 4,609 people died from alcoholic liver disease, ICD code K70, in 2010, in comparison to 4,160 in 2005.

Andrew Langford, Chief Executive of the British Liver Trust, said: “With almost 100 people a week now dying from alcohol-related liver disease, it provides further compounding evidence to the debate that current strategies to tackle the problem are not working. We know that the lipservice paid by the drinks industry and supermarkets through their empty promises, pledges and assurances are totally ineffective and I am genuinely concerned as to how many more deaths we have to face each year before any real, hard action is taken to tackle alcohol in the UK. Until we have robust strategies that address the real drivers of consumption like the pricing, advertising, availability and sponsorship of alcohol we won’t even begin to make a dent in these figures that are continuing to increase each year.”

The mortality statistics are obtainable from:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html