Alcohol use in South Asians in the UK

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4028

Published 20 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4028
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4028

Editorials

Alcohol use in South Asians in the UK

Is under-recognised, and alcohol related harm is disproportionatelyhigh

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

Ethnic minorities make up almost 8% of the population in theUnited Kingdom, yet their contribution to the cost of alcoholrelated harm, estimated at £20bn ( ${euro}$ 22bn; $32bn) a year,¹is not widely known. This has led to public health policiesbased on incorrect assumptions.

The evidence base is limited, but if place of birth is usedas a proxy for ethnicity, alcohol related mortality in Englandand Wales is about the national average for Eastern Europeanmen and women, Sri Lankan men, and East African men, whereasmen and women born in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa,Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, and the West Indies and women bornin India, Sri Lanka, and East Africa have lower mortality. Mortalityis particularly high in Irish and Scottish people as well asin Indian men.²

Alcohol consumption in Irish and Scottish people is high,² soit is not surprising . . . [Full text of this article]

Gurprit Pannu, consultant psychiatrist¹, Shahid Zaman, consultant psychiatrist², Neeraj Bhala, MRC research fellow³, Rashid Zaman, consultant psychiatrist⁴

¹ Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Swandean, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3EP, ² Princess of Wales Hospital, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 1DN, ³ Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF , ⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ

rz218@cam.ac.uk

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