14 July 2017: Responding to the publication of the UK government’s Drug Strategy today, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said:
“We welcome the fact that the government’s Drug Strategy touches on alcohol issues and recognises the harm done by alcohol to families and children, and its links with mental health issues and homelessness.
“However, we also need a dedicated strategy on alcohol which recognises the breadth of harm done by alcohol. In the UK, alcohol is responsible for over 26,000 deaths per year, over 1 million hospital admissions per year, and as pointed out in a recent review by Public Health England alcohol cost the UK economy between £27 – £52 billion in 2016.
“The time has come for the government to take an evidence-based approach to controlling the supply of and reducing the demand for a legal drug which is sold on virtually every street corner, sometimes at pocket money prices.”