ALCOHOL CONCERN: NEW EVIDENCE ON ALCOHOL - RELATED DEATHS ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics putting alcohol-related deaths at 8,386 do not fully capture the scale of the problem, Alcohol Concerns Annual Conference will hear today. The charity, which is launching a national campaign to persuade Government and local health authorities to put more money into alcohol treatment services has just released a new report: Wasted: lives lost to Alcohol.

For immediate release

00:01 hrs, Tuesday 14th November 2006


ALCOHOL CONCERN: NEW EVIDENCE ON ALCOHOL-
RELATED DEATHS ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.


Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics putting alcohol-related deaths at 8,386 do not fully capture the scale of the problem, Alcohol Concerns Annual Conference will hear today. The charity, which is launching a national campaign to persuade Government and local health authorities to put more money into alcohol treatment services has just released a new report: Wasted: lives lost to Alcohol.

The report, which brings together the most contemporary research into alcohols impact on the public health, paints a dismaying picture of the extent to which alcohol misuse damages peoples lives. The report has found that:

- Alcohol misuse is related to at least 10% of the chronic disease burden.
- 60 people die each day (or 22,000 a year) from alcohol-related causes.
- Alcohol is the second most important cause of high blood pressure after obesity.
- Up to 1 in 3 young people who commit suicide are intoxicated prior to death.
- Annually, up to five thousand cancer deaths are linked to alcohol consumption.

Over the next six months and beyond Alcohol Concern will be campaigning for the government to begin investing more money to reduce the burden alcohol misuse places on public services. Alcohol Concern has calculated that for every GBp1 spent on treatment, a GBp5 saving is made.


Don Shenker, Alcohol Concerns Director of Policy and Services said:

These figures starkly underline the need for a more co-ordinated approach to reducing alcohol-related harm. We are calling on Government to invest further money so that we can better identify individuals who need help and provide them with sufficient support. Alcohol-related deaths are eminently preventable, but the Government needs to invest more if the figures are to come down

Lynda Waltho MP, Chair of the All Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse said:
The Government has done a great deal to support local authorities in planning better alcohol treatment services. Unfortunately, alcohol is still seen as a relatively low priority. This report is a salutary reminder of the high price Britain is paying for its neglect of this vital issue. Hopefully, it will encourage decision makers to rethink their approach to the planning and delivery of alcohol treatment.

Notes to editors:
The ONS Figures are based on the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) that includes: Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol; Alcoholic cardiomyopathy; Alcoholic liver disease; Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified; Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver; accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol. It does not include alcohol-related cancers, haemorrhagic stroke, alcohol-related accidents, alcohol-related violence or self harm.
The Department of Healths Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project showed that of those people who need help for an alcohol problem, only 1 in 18 get the help they need. And figures released in Parliament by the Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint MP, showed that this figure varies widely across the regions (figures rounded to the nearest whole number):

- East Midlands - 1 in 16
- Eastern - 1 in 31
- London - 1 in 13
- North East - 1 in 102
- North West - 1 in 12
- South East - 1 in 20
- South West - 1 in 14
- West Midlands - 1 in 15
- Yorkshire and Humber - 1 in 46

Electronic copies (in PDF) of Wasted: lives lost to alcohol are available under embargo from the Alcohol Concern press office. Please call 0207 395 4003 or 07866 063 013 to request a copy or email FrankS@alcoholconcern.org.uk .
For more information please contact Frank Soodeen, Campaigns and Press Officer at the numbers above.
Alcohol Concern is the national agency working to reduce alcohol related harm in society. We work to reduce the incidence and costs of alcohol-related harm and to increase the range and quality of alcohol services available to problem drinkers and their families.

Date: 13 November 2006