No publicity for experts’ safe levels
More than 90% of adults don’t know what the weekly safe drinking guidelines are, a study has shown.
In 2016, health chiefs changed the guidelines and said men and women who drink regularly are safest not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol – equivalent to seven pints of beer – per week.
The changes were agreed by the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers (CMO) with England’s CMO, Dame Sally Davies, arguing it was to help people make “informed decisions” about their drinking.
But health campaigners have been left dismayed that a communications drive about the changes has still not happened.
A nationwide study published in the Journal Of Public Health last month included an opinion poll which found 71% of people were aware of the new guidelines but just 8% knew the recommended limits.
Warnings on the side of bottles or cans about the dangers of excessive drinking have long been criticised by the health lobby, who argue that messages based on scientific evidence – such as the dangers of liver damage or cancer from alcohol – should be conveyed, in a similar way to what now happens on cigarette packets.
An Alcohol Focus Scotland spokeswoman said: “It’s really disappointing that, nearly two years on, nothing has been done by government to communicate and explain the guidelines.”