Drinks industry attacks 90,000 deaths claim

Published: 19 October, 2009

The drinks industry has slammed health officials' claims that 90,000 people will die from alcohol-related diseases in the next 10 years.

The industry trade bodies have accused the campaigners of "scaremongering"
in their quest to prove the nation is drinking more as part of the Alcohol
Awareness Week which starts today, October 19.

Research by the University of the West of England used by Alcohol Concern found that there would be 90,800 deaths linked to drink by 2019 if current consumption continues.

The charity is calling for the government to consider higher duty on stronger drinks and charges of at least 50p per unit. It was backed by the British Liver Trust (BLT) which said that drink-related deaths had trebled in the past 25 years and a price clampdown was the only way to stem the tied.

But The British Beer and Pub Association said HMRC figures in the first six months of 2009 found the amount we drink fell by over eight per cent to 3.81 litres per head compared with 4.15 litres per head in the same period of 2008. The last time the nation's alcohol consumption fell by more than this was during 1948 when it fell by 11% over the course of the
year, the BBPA said.

Brigid Simmonds, BBPA chief executive, said: "Alcohol consumption is not increasing. It has been on a firm downward trend for several years. When it comes to effective policies to tackle alcohol ha rm, we need a debate based on the real facts. We can now test the academic theories and models, because we now have real life experience of falling total consumption.

"As doctors keep telling us things are getting worse, these figures cast severe doubt on the claims often made that the best policies for reducing alcohol harm are those that reduce everyone's drinking."

The BLT also wants supermarkets to stop offering heavily discounted alcoholic drinks, and says that including a bottle of wine in a £10 "credit crunch" meal deal "gives the message that sharing a bottle of wine is just an everyday meal."

A spokesman for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said: "How can anyone seriously argue that drinking wine with a meal is bad. That is exactly how people should be enjoying alcohol responsibly.

"It just shows the health campaigners do not want people to drink at all."

Printer friendly version