UK needs national strategy to tackle alcohol related harms
BMJ 2025; 388 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r38 (Published 15 January 2025) Cite this as: BMJ 2025;388:r38
- Julia M A Sinclair, professor of addiction psychiatry1,
- Melinda King, patient representative2,
- Steven Masson, consultant transplant hepatologist3,
- Ian Gilmore, president4
- 1University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, UK
- 2Patient representative, Brighton, UK
- 3Regional Liver and Transplant Unit, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, UK
- 4Medical Council on Alcohol, Liverpool Centre for Alcohol Research, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Alcohol is widely available and drunk by around 80% of adults in the UK. No safe level of alcohol consumption has been established,1 and the physical and mental health harms increase (at different rates) with the amount consumed.2 Alcohol is well recognised as a leading preventable cause of cancer.3
The health and social harms of alcohol are higher in socially disadvantaged groups4 despite lower rates of use than in more advantaged groups. This “alcohol harm paradox” means that alcohol consumption has the greatest detrimental effect on the most vulnerable in society and is a significant contributor to health inequalities and premature death.567
The challenges faced during the covid-19 pandemic89 resulted in an increase in the number of people drinking alcohol at increased and higher risk levels.1011 Deaths from alcohol specific causes in England also rose by 42.2% between 2019 and 2023, the highest number on record, most of them from alcohol related liver disease.1213
Successive …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £184 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£50 / $60/ €56 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.