Alcohol 'as harmful as smoking'

From: Roman Bystrianyk (rbystrianyk_at_gmail.com)
Date: 02/04/05 

Date: 3 Feb 2005 21:07:30 -0800

"Alcohol 'as harmful as smoking'", BBC News, February 4, 2005,
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4232703.stm

Alcohol causes almost as many deaths and disabilities globally as
smoking or high blood pressure, researchers warn.

An international team of scientists, writing in the Lancet, point out
alcohol is a factor in about 60 different diseases.

The researchers found 4% of the global burden of disease is
attributable to alcohol, compared to 4.1% to tobacco and 4.4% to high
blood pressure.

And they said that increasing alcohol prices in the UK could cut
deaths.

The scientists were critical of the UK, saying that it had not
implemented effective alcohol control policies.

The UK is about to introduce legislation allowing 24-hour drinking from
later this year.

Professor Robin Room, of the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and
Drugs at Stockholm University, is one of the lead authors of the study.

He told the BBC: "The evidence we have is that if you increase the
drinking hours then you get more trouble with alcohol."

He said the potential effects on health were not taken into account
when changes to licensing laws were considered. "It's a very
short-sighted approach."

'Little effect'

The report looks at diseases including cancers of the mouth, liver and
breast, heart disease and stroke, and cirrhosis in which alcohol can
play a role.

It also highlights the role of alcohol in car accidents, drownings,
falls and poisonings. Alcohol is also linked to a proportion of
self-inflicted injuries and murders.

The researchers found 4% of the global burden of disease is
attributable to alcohol, compared to 4.1% to tobacco and 4.4% to high
blood pressure.

Using data on alcohol cost and UK alcohol related mortality
information, the researchers estimate that increasing the price of
alcohol by 10% would produce a 7% drop in deaths from cirrhosis of the
liver in men and an 8.3% drop in deaths in women.

Restricting the availability of alcohol by reducing the hours pubs and
shops can sell it would also affect rates of alcohol-related harm.

Professor Room criticised the emphasis of the UK's alcohol strategy,
published in March last year.

"It emphasises measures that really have very little effect. The
emphasis is on public information and education. There's not much on
taxes."

He added: "A stark discrepancy exists between research findings about
the effectiveness of alcohol control measures and the policy options
considered by most governments.

"In many places, the interests of the alcohol industry have effectively
exercised a veto over policies, making sure that the main emphasis is
on ineffective strategies such as education."

'Sensible drinking'

Professor Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians'
alcohol committee, said: "There has been very little relevant research
in this country, so we don't know why we drink the way we do and how we
could change the culture."

He said the health impact of alcohol had to be addressed by the
government.

"It's easier to demonise the yobs - 'other people'. But 25% of the
population are drinking at a potentially hazardous level. And three
million people are dependent on alcohol."

The British Medical Association said the government was too slow at
tackling public health concerns, such as alcohol abuse.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The government is working
with the drinks industry, police and health professionals to increase
awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking and make the sensible
drinking message easier to understand.

"This is a central focus of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy which
clearly sets our plans to tackle issues around the potential harm of
alcohol and anti-social behaviour linked to excessive drinking."

She added: "We have no evidence to suggest that flexible licensing
hours in the UK will, in fact, lead to increased consumption of
alcohol. Indeed in many countries that have more liberal licensing
hours, binge drinking is far less frequent."

Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "There
are huge flaws in this theory.

"No one is saying let's double the price of food to tackle obesity."

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