A Healthier Future: A long-term vision to tackle alcohol harm in the UK
Alcohol harm is one of the biggest yet most overlooked public health challenges we face, with the impact felt not only in hospitals and clinics, but in our homes, workplaces, and local communities.
The cost is staggering, estimated at over £27 billion a year in England alone, through pressure on the NHS, social care, crime, and lost productivity. The heaviest toll falls on our most deprived communities, widening the health gap between the most and least wealthy.
Why now?
We’ve seen what a clear, long-term vision can achieve in tobacco control – fewer people smoking, thousands of lives saved, and a healthier future for the next generation. We wanted to build on that success, but to be clear: this is not a call for an alcohol-free future. Alcohol plays a role in our society, but the harms it causes can be much reduced.
Despite the scale of the problem, policy action lags far behind. 13 years on from the last national alcohol strategy, the government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England launched earlier this year failed to include any meaningful effort to reverse these worrying trends in alcohol harm.
We urgently need action on alcohol harm to be a priority to save lives, ease the burden on our health services, tackle inequalities, and encourage economic growth.
What did we do?
We know that the public wants bold government action to improve our health and wellbeing, we now need politicians to act. To press for change, we wanted to develop a clear vision for tackling alcohol harm with recommended policies, targets, and outcomes, that was shared amongst colleagues across the alcohol policy sector.
We brought together a group of experts from academia, treatment, civil society organisations, family support groups, local government, policy, and healthcare. Through a structured consensus process, they helped us create a shared vision, three clear targets, and eight evidence-based policy priorities for the next decade – a roadmap for a healthier and more equitable future.
The project sets out a collective direction for everyone working to reduce alcohol harm, so we can push together for change.
What are we calling for?
Our vision is for a society where alcohol harm is rare and equal opportunities for good health and wellbeing exist for all.
Our three targets for the next decade are:
To get there, we have eight priority policy recommendations, backed by decades of evidence:
What can you do to help?
- Watch and share our short film explaining the project and its findings – and help amplify our shared vision.
- Download the roadmap, which includes the key targets and policy priorities, and use it in your own communications and advocacy.
