Poor alcohol regulation could cost up to 250,000 lives in England and Wales
over the next 20 years, doctors warn.
Writing in The Lancet, leading liver disease specialists say measures including
a minimum price of 50p per unit are urgently needed.
They also said the coalition government was "too close" to the drinks industry.
But the Department of Health said it was taking "tough action", while the
drinks industry said it was "playing its part in tackling alcohol misuse".
The scientists predicted UK deaths from liver disease in four different
scenarios.
The best case was based on the UK following the example of France, which had a
deep-seated problem in the 1960s, with high liver disease deaths linked to the
consumption of cheap alcohol.
Drinking levels there were reduced by imposing strict marketing restrictions.
Following that example, the doctors predict the UK could reduce the current
level of deaths from liver disease of 11 per 100,000 by a third.
But they warn if nothing is done, deaths from all alcohol-related causes -
including cancers and road accidents - could claim the lives of 250,000 people
in England and Wales over the coming two decades.
'Serious situation'
The medics, led by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore who has long campaigned for action
on alcohol misuse, welcomed the coalition government's plans to keep duty rises
on alcohol at 2% above inflation.
But they say plans to ban the sale of alcohol at below cost price, and to
increase duty on beer stronger than 7.5% proof, are "inconsequential" because
only a tiny percentage of sales fall into that category.
Sir Ian told the BBC there had been a "very close link" between the falling
prices in real terms over the last 20 years and the amount Britons drank.
"Alcohol is not an ordinary commodity like soap powder," said Sir Ian.
"It is a drug, it happens to be legal, but it is a drug and there are more than
1.5 million people addicted to alcohol. We think, like other areas of public
health, like smoking, like seatbelts, there is a strong case for tougher
regulation and the most effective regulation would be around price."
Continue reading the main story
Start Quote
This paper highlights the stark future we face if the government continues to
pander to the agendas of the drinks industry
End Quote Professor Jon Rhodes British Society of Gastroenterology president
Sir Ian said recent figures had shown a slight decline in the level of alcohol
consumption.
But he warned: "Fewer people are drinking more".
He added the claim that the government was "too close" to the drinks industry
had come from the health select committee, who said ministers listened too much
to the drinks industry and not enough to their own health experts.
The doctors also criticise government moves to include representatives from the
drinks trade - but not alcohol health experts - on its "responsibility deal"
board, which will help steer public health policy on drinking.
Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "How
many more people have to die from alcohol-related conditions, and how many more
families devastated by the consequences before the government takes the
situation as seriously as it took the dangers of tobacco?"
Don Shenker of Alcohol Concern added: "Government need to decide whose side it
is on, that of the general public or drinks industry shareholders?
"We have to accept that in order to save both lives and our quality of life,
certain measures which the industry won't like must be introduced to protect
the public's health."
But a spokesman for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said: "The authors
ignore the fact that alcohol taxes and prices are among the highest in Europe,
in contrast to France, a country with low prices yet cited as a nation having
achieved a reduction in liver-related deaths."
He added that the drinks industry was "committed to playing (its) part in
addressing the issues associated with alcohol misuse".
David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, which also represents UK
drinks producers, said: "Latest government statistics show alcohol related
deaths actually fell in the UK last year and we want to see that continue.
"That's why the industry puts its energies into funding health education
campaigns and working with people who are serious about reducing alcohol misuse
in the UK.
"Creating doomsday scenarios is not in anyone's best interests, least of all
the responsible majority of people who enjoy alcohol in moderation as part of a
healthy lifestyle."
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "The government has wasted no time in
taking tough action to tackle problem drinking, including plans to stop
supermarkets selling below-cost alcohol and working to introduce a tougher
licensing regime."
She claimed the government was "taking a bold new approach" to public health.