Report into alcohol misuse welcomed
PUBLIC health chiefs in Halton have welcomed a report exploring the issue of alcohol misuse across Cheshire and Merseyside.
The Cheshire and Merseyside Alcohol Enquiry brought together 35 residents from across nine council areas for an “open and honest debate” about having a healthier relationship with booze.
People taking part shared their views and experiences on the question of “what can we all do to make it easier for people to have a healthier relationship with alcohol?” Findings will help to inform the Reduction of Harm Through Alcohol programme being developed for Cheshire and Merseyside.
According to Public Health England data, in 2017-19, Halton’s mortality due to alcohol was worse than average with 17.9 deaths per 100,000 residents per year, compared to 14.6 for the North West and 10.9 for England as a whole.
Dr Ifeoma Onyia, interim director of public health for Halton, said: “In Halton, reducing alcohol harm is a key public health priority.
“Although levels of alcohol related hospital admissions are falling, we are still above the England average. We welcome this report, particularly the views of local people on how we continue to tackle alcohol harm in our communities. “
In the report foreword, David Parr OBE, former Halton Borough Council chief executive and former Cheshire and Merseyside Lead chief executive for alcohol harm together with Julie Webster, director of public health (DPH) for Wirral and lead director for alcohol harm, said: “There is clear evidence alcohol misuse has a major impact on many aspects of our life, our physical and mental health, our safety and the safety of others, our economy, our leisure activities, how we celebrate.
“Even the popular ‘soaps’ many of us watch on TV have a pub at the heart of their story lines. This work offers us an opportunity to listen to a cross-section of our community about their relationship with alcohol.
“We would like to thank those who took part for their time and their candid and personal reflections.
“The purpose of this work is to open an honest debate on alcohol misuse and what action we could take to improve our individual and collective relationship with alcohol. It also provides real evidence, from real people to supplement and support the extensive scientific and clinical research on how alcohol impacts our day to day lives and those we interact with.”
The report is available to online at champspublichealth.com, or for more information e-mail Ravi Menghani, Champs lead for alcohol reduction harm, at ravimenghani@wirral.gov.uk for more information.