General Alcohol Problems in UK

In England, there are an estimated 586,780 dependent drinkers. Just 18 percent undergo counseling. 24% of adults in England and Scotland regularly drink on their heavy drinking days (over eight units for men and over six units for women), and 27% of drinkers in Britain binge drink on their worst drinking days. In 2017, 20% of the population recorded no alcohol at all, and since 2004, overall consumption has fallen by around 16%. There were 9,214 fatalities associated with alcohol in the UK in 2016 (about 15 per 100,000 people). Mortality rates among individuals aged 55-69 are highest.

There were 7,551 fatalities due to alcohol in the UK in 2018 (about 11.9 per 100,000 people). This is the second-highest amount since the reports began in 2001. There are an estimated 586,780 dependent drinkers in England (2017/18), 82% of whom do not have access to treatment.

Alcohol-Related Health problem in the UK:

In more than 60 medical conditions, alcohol is a causal factor, including mouth, throat, stomach, liver, and breast cancer, high blood pressure, liver cirrhosis, and depression.

There were an estimated 1.2 million alcohol-related hospital admissions in England in 2017/18 (7.2% of all hospital admissions), 3% higher than the previous year. In the same era, there were 338,000 admissions for alcohol-induced disorders, 15% more than ten years earlier.

In the United Kingdom throughout 2018, alcohol-specific death rates were highest for females aged 60-64 and males aged 55-59. In 2018, the death rate for Scotland was 20.8 per 100,000, 10.7 per 100,000 for England, 13.1 per 100,000 for Wales In 2018, 1.8% of all fatalities were alcohol-specific incidents in Northern Ireland. In 2018, male alcohol-specific death rates in the UK were 16.4 per 100,000 and female 7.6 per 100,000. In 2018, alcohol-specific deaths accounted for 9.6% of all deaths in the age group 40-44 in the UK.

Study based evidence:

One out of five people admitted to a hospital in the United Kingdom drink alcohol dangerously, and one in ten relies on it, indicates a report. Researchers at King’s College London want to screen people with drinking-related problems. We are also asking for assistance from more trained staff.

Alcohol can cause a vast number of medical problems that cost over £ 3.5 billion a year to the NHS in the UK. Yet, they added, many may not receive adequate care. The harmful use of alcohol is ten times higher in-hospital patients, and dependence is eight times higher than in other people, the study suggests.

The research has been published in the journal Addiction. This looked at 124 previous studies and over 1.5 million patients to see how many people were suffering from severe alcohol use disorders. Diseases like liver disorders, alcohol poisoning, mental disorders because of alcohol use were diagnosed in the patients.

Kate Oldridge-Turner, the World Cancer Research Fund’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said the numbers were alarming. “We have an alcohol-focused social culture in the UK.” We need a policy to encourage people to drink less by keeping our daily lives safer. Awareness alone will not lead to large-scale behavioral change. “She advocated for a minimum unit price and more urban planning to” give people more social spaces that are not about alcohol.

Treatments for Alcoholics:

In England, 75,555 people received intensive alcohol abuse services in 2018/19, falling 18 percent since 2013/14. Throughout England throughout 2018/19, there were 75,555 individuals in professional alcohol abuse care, dropping 18 percent since 2013/14.

In England in 2016/17, nearly 40% of people who completed care effectively did not return after six months. The average age for people treated with alcohol is 46, 60% of people treated with alcohol are Caucasian, and 85% are white British, relative to 80% of the population. Other white ethnic groups accounted for 4% and non-white ethnic groups, 7%.

Laws about Alcohol in the UK:

If you are under the age of 18 and consume alcohol in public, you can be detained, charged, or arrested by police. If you’re under the age of 18, it’s contrary to the law: for someone to give you alcohol to purchase or try to buy alcohol for an individual to buy or attempt to buy alcohol for you to drink alcohol in licensed premises (such as a bar or restaurant) but if you’re 16 or 17 years old and accompanied by an adult, you can drink (but not buy) alcohol.

The old system of permitted hours for the sale of alcohol has now been discontinued by England, Wales, and Scotland, enabling 24-hour trade. In England and Wales, the 2003 Licensing Act was supposedly adopted to encourage the development of a’ café community’ in the Mediterranean style and to address the problem of binge drinking allegedly caused by excessively early set closing times. Some proponents for alcohol regulation challenged these controversial claims, claiming that they were not backed by the available evidence, which indicates that extended consumption hours appear to be correlated with more exposure to alcohol rather than less.

In England, the Alcohol, etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 limited the sale and marketing of off-trade alcohol to one area of the store, so that alcohol could not be sold in stores. The Scottish Act also forbids price deals dependent on numbers, including “multi-buy” sales such as two-for-one or buy-one-get-one-free offers. Such conditions are intended to prohibit or restrict promotions that encourage people to drink more than they usually do and in a manner that does not promote the goals of licensing.

Regional Trading Standards Departments are responsible for ensuring compliance with the law with the packaging and will take this advice into account to help determine enforcement. A breach of the rules of the classification may result in enforcement action against the Food Business Manager if the marking is deceptive, incorrect, or vague. References

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-alcohol-sales/2010-to-2015-government-policy-alcohol-sales

http://www.ias.org.uk/Alcohol-knowledge-centre/Availability-and-licensing/Factsheets/Licensing-legislation-and-alcohol-availability.aspx

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763840/low-alcohol-descriptors-guidance.pdf

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/alcohol-facts/fact-sheets/alcohol-statistics

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alcohol-misuse/

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48860621