Booze deaths plunge after price rise law
13% fall in fatalities compared with England since new rules imposed
MINIMUM unit pricing for alcohol has been linked to a 13 per cent drop in deaths from booze consumption, according to a study.
The research, published in The Lancet, suggests 156 deaths per year on average in Scotland may have been prevented due to the MUP policy, which was implemented in May 2018.
Over the two years and eight months since the policy was implemented, researchers found there was a “significant” 13.4 per cent reduction in deaths wholly attributable to alcohol consumption.
That was compared to an estimate, using data from England, of the deaths that would have occurred had the legislation not been implemented.
There was a 4.1 per cent reduction in hospitalisations for conditions wholly attributable to alcohol consumption, equivalent to avoiding 411 hospital admissions per year, on average.
Researchers also found significant reductions in deaths attributable to alcohol consumption were greatest for men and for those in the 40 per cent most socio-economically deprived areas of Scotland.
MUP placed a minimum charge of 50p on each unit of alcohol. The study was conducted by researchers from Public Health Scotland (PHS), Glasgow University and the University of Queensland, Australia.
Dr Grant Wyper, public health intelligence adviser at PHS, said: “The greatest reductions were seen for chronic alcohol health harms, in particular alcoholic liver disease, which were slightly offset with less certain evidence of increases in acute alcohol health harms.
“The findings highlight that the largest reductions were found for males, and for those living in the 40 per cent most deprived areas – groups which are known to experience disproportionally high levels of alcohol health harms.”
Professor Daniel Mackay, of Glasgow University, added: “The methods we’ve used in this study allow us to be confident that the reduction in alcohol health harms we’ve shown is due to the introduction of MUP, rather than some other factor.”
However, the report authors acknowledged some limitations in the study, including that there was an impact on hospital capacity and attendance during the Covid-19 pandemic, which increases the uncertainty of the study findings related to hospitalisations. The
Scottish Parliament must vote before May 1 next year on whether or not MUP will continue.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd said: “I am very pleased with these findings which point to more than 150 lives a year being saved and 411 fewer hospital admissions, further underlining the value of our world-leading minimum unit pricing policy.”