Scottish doctors call time on booze

Mon April 6th, 2009

Scotland is facing an increasingly serious health problem caused by "booze culture", doctors have warned.

Members of the BMA in Scotland called for wide-ranging measures, including price controls, to reduce drinking levels.

A BMA report says some 42,430 patients were discharged from hospitals in Scotland last year for drink-related problems - and six people die every day.

It warns the number of people with alcoholi liver disease has increased by five times in the last 13 years.

BMA Scottish chairman Dr Peter Terry said: "Alcohol can be an enjoyable part of social and cultural life in Scotland, but the growing booze culture emerging in our towns and cities is creating serious health problems for the future.

"The lives of far too many Scots are being compromised and cut short by our relationship with alcohol."

Doctors who contributed to the report told harrowing stories of the effects of too much drink.

One said: "We continue to see children as young as 13 or 14 in our community hospital unconscious as a consequence of alcohol which has become the obligatory social lubricant for almost every event.

"The cost of all of this on the individuals concerned and on friends and families that surround them are incalculable."

Dr Andrew Thomson, who is deputy chairman of the BMA Board of Science, said: "Reversing the trend of alcohol misuse will require strong political leadership and bold action.

"The debate about tackling alcohol misuse should not centre on the profits of supermarkets or drinks producers, but it should focus instead on how we can implement policies that will change drinking behaviours for the good of the nation's health."

Tags: UK News | Internal Medicine | Drug & Alcohol Abuse

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