Published 3 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2714
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2714

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BMA meeting: Doctors support minimum price for unit of alcohol

¹ BMJ

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

Representatives at the BMA’s annual conference in Liverpool have voted in support of the chief medical officer of England’s proposals to set a minimum price on a unit of alcohol, following the lead of the Scottish government.

Earlier this year Liam Donaldson called for a minimum price of 50p (0.6; $0.8) to be charged for a unit of alcohol to reduce excessive drinking and its associated harms (BMJ 2009;338:b1124, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1124).

The move was based on evidence from a Department of Health funded study conducted by Sheffield University last year that concluded that setting a minimum price could reduce numbers of deaths and admissions to hospital by encouraging less drinking (www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Healthimprovement/Alcoholmisuse/DH_4001740).

However, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that he did not want to penalise most people who drank responsibly by charging them more for alcohol.

Keith Brent, a paediatrician from Bournemouth, told delegates that the . . . [Full text of this article]

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