Published 20 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1191
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1191

Editorials

Reducing harm from alcohol

The UK must tackle the problem of cheap alcohol

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

The United Kingdom has a drink problem. Whether measured as alcohol related deaths, hospital admissions, or crimes, its condition has been deteriorating markedly. And the problem is not confined to a small number of people going on a binge each weekend. Mortality from cirrhosis, a marker of more insidious harm, is now one of the highest rates in Europe, at a time when it is falling in many other European countries.1

The reasons seem obvious. At a population level, consumption is driven by price, availability, and marketing.2 British supermarkets now sell beer more cheaply than bottled water. High street convenience shops, often only a short stagger apart, have entire walls lined with cheap alcohol. And alcohol producers—taking advantage of the latest advances in neurosciences that can, quite literally, read the minds of people they view as potential customers—have developed extremely sophisticated marketing techniques.3 Britain is awash with low price, heavily . . . [Full text of this article]

Martin McKee, professor of European public health1, Paul Belcher, EU government affairs advisor2, Tamara Hervey, professor of law3

1 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, 2 Royal College of Physicians, London NW1 4LE, 3 University Of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7ND

martin.mckee@lshtm.ac.uk


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