Drug and booze death rate twice that of England

THE rate of deaths from drugs and alcohol in Scotland is twice that of England.

Scotland had an ‘avoidable mortality’ rate for alcohol and drug-related deaths of 48.1 per 100,000 people in 2019, latest figures show.

In comparison, England had 21.4 deaths per 100,000.

The figures are disclosed in a report on avoidable deaths – those that can be prevented through healthcare or public health interventions – by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). All alcohol and drugrelated deaths are considered preventable.

In 2019, avoidable deaths due to alcohol and drug-related disorders in the UK ranged from 8.6 per cent in Wales to 15.2 per cent in Scotland.

The ONS report also shows that Scotland has the highest overall avoidable mortality rate in the UK. Its rate of 307.8 per 100,000 people – caused partly by high rates of cancer, heart disease and strokes – compares to 220.9 in England.

Last night, critics called on the Scottish Government to address the ‘shameful’ statistics.

Scotland is the drugs death capital of Europe, with 1,264 dying of a drugs overdose in 2019, and has one of Europe’s worst rates of problem drinking – more than twice that of Italy.

One in four Scots drinks to potentially harmful levels and deaths caused by alcohol reached 1,020 in 2019.

Laura Mahon, deputy chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said the minimum unit pricing (MUP) policy in Scotland had helped but ‘this measure alone is not enough’. She added: ‘These sobering statistics... will not account for the potential impact from Covid-19 and the associated restrictions.’

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex ColeHamilton said: ‘These are truly shameful figures. They are the result of political choices.’

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron described the figures as ‘deeply alarming’. He said: ‘It is deeply sad that Scotland is suffering such high rates of avoidable deaths compared to our counterparts south of the Border.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said it would ‘take forward a national mission that will be supported by additional investment of £250million over the next five years, as well as an additional £5million in the current financial year to address drugs misuse’.

He added that the first full year of MUP saw a 10 per cent fall in alcohol-specific deaths.

‘These are truly shameful figures’