A paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine discusses the implementation of a minimum unit pricing policy across the UK. Above recommended levels of intake, alcohol use is associated with harm including hypertension, haemorrhagic stroke, liver disease, mental health disorders and cancers, as well as accidents, injuries and assaults. The 2015 UK Global Burden of Disease study indicates that 2.9% of disability-adjusted life years and 1.9% of mortality are attributable to alcohol use, and the 2013 Health Survey for England found that 23% of men and 16% of women in England drink at levels associated with risk to health. Despite the ongoing discussion about minimum unit pricing policy across the UK, and although it is difficult to predict what it would take for the Westminster Government to revert to a minimum unit pricing policy, any minimum unit pricing policy that does come to be implemented in Scotland or England and Wales will only be implemented because the relevant evidence exists.
Read the full article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.