Heavy drinking predicted to kill 63 000 people over the next five years

Almost 63 000 people in England will die over the next five years from liver problems linked to heavy drinking, researchers have predicted, prompting doctors to call for the government to introduce minimum alcohol pricing to tackle the problem of cheap alcohol.

The analysis, by Sheffield University’s Alcohol Research Group for the Foundation for Liver Research, predicts that alcohol misuse will lead to 62 905 deaths between 2017 and 2022, and 4.2 million hospital admissions. A total of 32 475 of the deaths will be the result of liver cancer and another 22 519 …