National Context
Alcohol misuse is a major cause of disease and injury in the UK. Excessive alcohol consumption is a national problem that can create dependency and ill health in individuals as well as negative social and economic impacts in public places, at work and at home.
In the UK, 2.9 million people are defined as alcohol dependent. We are told in the National Alcohol Harm Strategy that the total estimated cost of alcohol-related harm is £20,000 million a year.
Alcohol misuse affects all ages. There is an increase in the proportion of 16-24 year olds who are drinking above safe levels. There are also an increasing proportion of young women drinking above safe levels. But generally, more men than women are involved in harmful drinking. British teenagers are the heaviest drinkers in Europe, drinking twice the amount of alcohol they did 10 years ago. Alcohol related mortality falls disproportionately on younger age groups with approximately 22,000 premature deaths each year, related to alcohol. Since 1991, the age at which people die from alcoholic liver disease has also dropped from 70 to 55 years of age. The NHS sees approximately 30,000 admissions each year for alcohol dependency while as many as 7 out of every 10 attendances at A&E on a Friday and Saturday night are for alcohol-related conditions. Alcohol-related conditions cost the NHS £1,700m a year.
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