UK Doctors Back Calls For Minimum Price For Alcohol

Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Article Date: 03 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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Doctors attending the BMA's annual conference in Liverpool have today (Thursday 2 July 2009) backed calls to introduce a minimum price for a unit of alcohol. Proposing a motion which also included calls for clearer labelling and a total ban on alcohol advertising, Dr Chandra Mohan from Barking, Havering and Brentwood, said:

"People drink alcohol in different patterns and for different reasons, so a multi-directional approach is needed to address these problems. We need clearer labelling of alcoholic products indicating alcohol content and unit value. We need to call on our Government to stop making excuses, to follow the plans of their Scottish colleagues and introduce a minimum price for a unit of alcohol."

Welcoming the Conference debate, Dr Peter Terry, Chairman of the BMA in Scotland, said:

"I welcome my UK colleagues' support for the approach being taken in Scotland to tackle the serious and significant social and health costs of alcohol. Doctors witness the devastation of alcohol on patients and the crippling effect it is having on the NHS.

"With this ringing endorsement from the medical profession, I hope that politicians of all parties can back the Scottish Government's alcohol strategy and support legislation on alcohol pricing."

In his speech to conference, Dr Mohan also quoted research published in the Lancet last week which stated that setting a minimum price of 50 pence per unit would increase the average weekly spend on alcohol of moderate drinkers by only 23 pence per week, but would decrease the consumption by underage and heavy drinkers by 7.3% and 10.3% respectively.

Source
British Medical Association