News Articles Archive - Institute of Alcohol Studies

Revealed: UK alcohol industry documents show spread of misinformation throughout 2024

New analysis exposes pattern of misleading claims used to block health policy and protect profits A new report by IAS and Scottish Health Action on...

Minimum Unit Pricing: Explained

The latest film in our Explained series looks at minimum unit pricing (MUP), providing a clear and comprehensive overview of: We discuss why the policy...

SMF think tank recommends windfall tax if England introduces Minimum Unit Pricing

With calls growing for England to follow Scotland and Wales in introducing minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol, a new report from the Social Market...

Letter to Ireland’s Taoiseach and Minister for Health on health warning labels

Following news that Ireland may be re-examining its alcohol health warning labelling regulations in light of US trade tariffs, IAS has written to the Taoiseach...

Rise in alcohol deaths is an “acute crisis”

A new study in The Lancet has found that almost 4,000 additional deaths from alcohol have occurred since the pandemic. The main cause of death...

IAS webinar: Minimum Unit Pricing: Lessons for England

Thursday, 29 May, 12:00-13:30 BST Join our webinar to learn everything you need to know about Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) of alcohol. Leading experts will...

WHO Europe calls for cancer warnings on alcohol labels

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has published a report calling for mandatory cancer warning labels on all alcoholic beverages, emphasising that...

New film: The Impact of Alcohol on our Healthcare Services: Explained

Alcohol-related deaths in England are at record highs, with the NHS under increasing strain from preventable alcohol-related conditions. Our new short film, The Impact of...

UK alcohol deaths increase by 38% since 2019

10,473 people died from alcohol-specific causes in the UK in 2023, an increase of 4.2% since 2022 and a shocking 38% since 2019. This is...

Alcohol duty rises in line with inflation and wine ‘easement’ ends

As announced at the Autumn budget last year, alcohol duty rates increased in line with inflation of 3.65% from 01 February. This is only the...

50th KBS conference – Glasgow, supported by IAS

The 50th conference of the Kettil Bruun Society (KBS) will be held the 9-13 June 2025, at the University of Glasgow’s James McCune Smith Learning...

U.S. Surgeon General calls for cancer warning labels on alcohol

The U.S. Surgeon General has published an Advisory report on alcohol and cancer, calling for warning labels to be updated on alcoholic products to include...

Alcohol Health Alliance calls for alcohol strategy to tackle “catastrophic rise” in deaths

The Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) has written a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting calling for an alcohol strategy, after new figures show alcohol-specific deaths...

Alcohol-specific deaths in England rise by 4.6% in 2023

Deaths from conditions wholly attributable to alcohol have increased by 4.6% from 2022 to 2023, reaching the highest number for the fourth year in a...

IAS thanks Linda Bauld for her support and welcomes Julia Sinclair to its board

Professor Linda Bauld is stepping down as a trustee of IAS. Our statement of thanks: IAS would like to express its gratitude to Professor Linda...

Cuts and freezes to alcohol duty will cost the Treasury £28.6 billion by 2030

In our latest Budget Analysis, we found that cuts and freezes to alcohol duty since 2013 will cost the government over £28.6 billion by 2030....

WHO Europe’s Alcohol Policy Playbook busts alcohol industry myths

WHO Europe’s latest report, Empowering public health advocates to navigate alcohol policy challenges: alcohol policy playbook, supports policymakers, advocates, and public health professions to identify...

How does alcohol affect the brain?

Do you know how alcohol interacts with the brain? And did you know that heavy episodic drinking as an adolescent is one of the strongest risk...

IAS welcomes Autumn Budget alcohol duty decisions

In the first Budget of the new Labour Government, off-trade alcohol duty was kept in line with RPI inflation. To support pubs, Draught Relief was...

Children’s drinking continues to decline, although rates still high

In the latest data from NHS Digital, 37% of children aged 11-15 had ever drank alcohol, down from 44% in 2016. Although the question changed...