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• Keeping yourself safe

Alcohol policy

Alcohol-related harms cost the UK economy £27bn per annum.

The scale of the UK's alcohol problem can, at times, be overwhelming. The NHS spends £2.7bn each year to tackle alcohol-related problems. In 2007/08 there were nearly 1,000,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions. Nearly half of all violent assaults are thought to be alcohol-related.

Alcohol Concern seeks to influence policy at a national level to reduce alcohol-related harm. We do this by keeping abreast of the latest domestic and international research, undertaking our own studies and field work, and by examining practices and interventions that are effectively tackling alcohol problems.

We examine how research and practice examples, based on sound evidence, can be applied to the UK setting and the impact it would have. Alcohol Concern is not an anti-alcohol organisation; we believe alcohol can play an enjoyable and important part of our culture. However, as alcohol harms have continued to rise dramatically over the last 15-years we believe that governments, national, devolved and local need to make tougher choices around alcohol policy which will improve the nation's health and make communities safer.

This section contains information about some of the latest policy analysis undertaken by Alcohol Concern and links to the work undertaken by our projects.