Published 23 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a963
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a963

News

Alcohol accounts for 6% of all admissions to English hospitals

Adrian O’Dowd

1 Margate

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The number of admissions to hospitals in England for reasons related to alcohol consumption each year is now more than 800 000, according to new data that are based on a wider definition of alcohol related illness than that previously used.

The figures, released by the Department of Health this week, show that 811 443 people were admitted in 2006-7 for reasons related to alcohol (accounting for 6% of all admissions), 71% higher than the 2002-3 figure of 473 529.

The rise is one of several sources of information that have prompted the government to take action on alcohol misuse.

The health department has published a consultation on England’s drinking culture that proposes mandatory regulation and labelling for the alcohol industry. The public health minister, Dawn Primarolo, launched the consultation on Tuesday 22 July, alongside independent reviews showing that the drinks industry is not adhering to its own voluntary standards.

. . . [Full text of this article]


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