The Inequalities in Health Alliance (IHA) is a coalition of more than 250 organisations, convened by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), which campaigns for a cross-government strategy to reduce health inequalities. This blog post from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) is part of a series by IHA member organisations.
In this piece Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the AHA, explores the record rise in alcohol-related harm in the UK, highlighting health inequalities and calling for urgent, evidence-based policy action.
Record levels of alcohol harm in the UK
The harm caused by alcohol poses a significant and growing challenge for our nation. Alcohol is the leading risk factor for death, ill health and disability among 15-49-year-olds in the UK, contributing to profound health and social inequalities. According to the most recent data from the Office for National Statistics, in 2022 over 10,000 people died as a direct result of alcohol – a record high and a staggering increase of 33% since 2019. In England alone, more than 1 in 20 hospital admissions are now related to alcohol, and an estimated 99,000 people are unable to work due to alcohol-related health issues.
The unequal effects of alcohol
As a liver specialist in one of the country’s most deprived areas, I have seen first-hand how alcohol and health issues affect people differently. People from the lowest-income groups are significantly more likely to experience alcohol harm, despite drinking less on average than those in the wealthiest groups.
In England, people in the most deprived groups are tragically twice as likely to die as a direct result of alcohol than those from the least deprived groups. Regionally, the north-west and north-east of England endure the highest rates of alcohol-related hospitalisations and mortality.
As well as geographical and socioeconomic factors, race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality can also contribute to increased risk of alcohol-related harms.
What can be done?
At the AHA, we entirely support the IHA’s work to tackle the root causes of health inequalities, and as part of that we must face up to the role of the harm caused by alcohol.
We need the government to adopt a comprehensive, evidence-based alcohol strategy aligned with the World Health Organization’s ‘best buy’ policies, which address the affordability, promotion and availability of alcohol. These are cost-effective measures that have been proven to reduce alcohol-related harm.
Improved regulation of advertising, such as restricting when and where adverts can be placed, would help to limit harmful exposure. Setting a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol, alongside a robust and fair tax system, works to reduce alcohol consumption and related harms. We only need to look to our neighbours in Scotland, where the MUP has reduced alcohol-related deaths by 13% since its introduction in 2018, with four in 10 of the lives saved from the most deprived areas. Again following Scotland’s lead, introducing ‘protecting and improving public health’ as a licensing objective in England and Wales would enable licensing bodies to consider local alcohol harm data when granting licences, helping to reduce the disproportionate density of alcohol outlets in our poorest neighbourhoods. All of this must be underpinned by a commitment to long-term, adequate funding for treatment services, ensuring equitable access with a focus on communities and individuals who experience the worst harms.
Effective alcohol policies will benefit us all, but they will go a great deal further to prevent alcohol harms and associated health inequalities from falling disproportionately on our most vulnerable communities.
This piece is part of a series of guest blog posts by members of the Inequalities in Health Alliance.
Sir Ian Gilmore
Special adviser on alcohol
