Minimum price "serious ammunition" in the fight against alcohol-related damage

A unit minimum price for alcohol should be set up in all parts of the UK and extended to all over Europe, suggested a health expert.

Professor Jurgen Rehm, an adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO), suggested that people do not drink more than one unit of alcohol a day.

He called the pricing policy a serious "ammunition" in the fight against alcohol-related damage and deplored the low rate of use of pricing measures in Europe.

The call was launched while the MUP in Scotland would have a "significant impact" on health outcomes north of the border.

The Scottish Government's policy of setting a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol finally came into effect in May after years of delay due to a court challenge.

It was estimated that the move would save an estimated 392 lives in the first five years of its implementation in Scotland, where there were an average of 22 alcohol and weekly deaths and 697 hospitalizations.

Figures presented at a joint meeting on alcohol and health in Edinburgh, led by WHO and the network on alcohol policies in Europe, show that the continent continues to record the highest consumption of alcohol in the world.

Every day, about 800 people in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland die from alcohol-related causes and there has been "no significant change" in the levels of consumption of alcohol. Alcohol since 2010.

Prof Rehm, senior director at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada, said that a decrease in the number of alcohol-related deaths in Canada Europe, from 301,000 in 2010 to 291,000 in 2016, can not be described as a great success. .

He also highlighted the "huge problems" associated with drinking alcohol among young people in Europe, including the widespread prevalence of excessive consumption of alcohol.

"The big ammunition uses price politics, like taxation and things like that," he said.

Asked about the likely impact of the MUP in Scotland, he told reporters: "It is clear that the minimum unit pricing will have a significant impact."

He pointed out the "fairly great success" of similar tariff restrictions in countries such as Russia, pointing out that it reduces the consumption of heavy drinkers and alcohol addicts.

Accidents related to drinking, injuries, violence and public disturbances will also decrease with the rise in minimum prices, he said.

When asked about the desire to see all European countries introduce this policy, he said: "From a public health point of view, yes, we would not only like minimum price policies, we would like relatively low minimum price policies. high …

"The price in Europe is the least used political measure of all political measures".

Echoing this sentiment for the rest of the UK, he highlighted the country's "unique picture" of alcohol, including the problems of excessive alcohol consumption and higher consumption of women.

"What should play a role here would be a minimum price in all parts of the UK," he said.

Dr. Joao Breda, head of the WHO's European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, said the MUP is a policy that "protects the most vulnerable".

"Problems such as the use of the price, these are very strong and very important ammunition that should be considered by all the countries and it is one of the measures that the countries use less", did he declare.

Professor Rehm suggested to people not to consume more than one unit of alcohol a day, citing figures showing that 29% of alcohol-related deaths in the EU are due to cancer.

He violated the previous government's guidelines that there could be a "safe" level of alcohol consumption.

"There is no harmless alcohol," he insisted.

"In the UK, drinking a low-risk drink would be a drink a day."

Professor Rehm suggested some useful measures, such as changing the size of alcohol portions and lowering the alcohol content of drinks, indicating that tests had shown that people could not tell the difference between a beer containing 5% alcohol and a 3.5% beer.

Responding to these comments, Dr. Eric Carlin, Director of Scottish Health Action (SHAAP), said: "SHAAP strongly supports the UK collective management organizations' guidelines, which must not exceed 14 units per week, before that health is not affected.

"However, it is true to say that no level of alcohol is safe, especially with regard to the risks of cancer."

A spokesman for the Alcohol Information Partnership Group, founded by eight alcoholic beverage producers and aimed at promoting a balanced debate on alcohol consumption, said: "The UK is posting one of the highest rates of alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption the lowest recommended, with 14 units per week.

"This reduction was made relatively recently, so it would be surprising and confusing if the guidelines were to be changed again.

"In the UK, most people drink moderately – in fact, recent statistics show a decrease in excessive alcohol consumption, especially among young people.

"Where there are problems with harmful alcohol consumption, we think that targeted interventions are often much more effective than global ones."