New campaign focuses on “unseen harms” of alcohol

The number of deaths from alcohol in the United Kingdom has doubled in the past 16 years, with nearly 10 000 people dying in 2008 because of excessive consumption.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that alcohol related deaths have risen substantially since the early 1990s, from 6.7 per 100 000 population in 1992 to 13.6 per 100 000 in 2008 (9031 deaths). Males accounted for 66% of all alcohol related deaths in 2008.

A campaign to raise public awareness of the unseen harms caused by alcohol was launched on 28 January by the Department of Health, in association with Cancer …