Doctors yesterday reaffirmed their support for a minimum pricing strategy for a unit of alcohol. Speaking today at the BMA's annual conference in Liverpool, Newry consultant and BMA Board of Science member Dr Peter Maguire said,

"Excessive consumption of alcohol and related diseases affect all parts of society. We believe that measures such as introducing a minimum price for alcohol and ensuring that alcoholic drinks are clearly labelled to indicate alcoholic content are essential as part of the strategy for tackling the burden of alcohol-related diseases.

"We also call on the government to totally ban alcohol advertising in the media".

The BMA has previously outlined its plans for tackling excessive alcohol consumption in its 2008 report "Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic".

Source
British Medical Association Northern Ireland