Heavy drinkers of alcohol significantly increased consumption during the pandemic, posing a major risk to health, researchers warn today.
This finding was seen in two studies predicting the long-term health impact on the NHS. They also found that people who were lighter drinkers pre-pandemic tended to reduce their intake.
The studies came from the University of Sheffield, UK, and Institute of Alcohol Studies/HealthLumen.
Even if drinking patterns returned to pre-pandemic patterns from this year, substantial increases in alcohol-related harms and costs for the NHS are estimated.
Both studies were released yesterday. The University of Sheffield’s report examined how alcohol-related hospitalisations and deaths may change over 20 years. At worst, there will be 972,382 more hospital admissions and 25,192 more deaths, with a cost of 5.2bn UK pounds.
The Institute of Alcohol Studies/HealthLumen report estimated alcohol-related diseases, deaths, and NHS costs by 2035. They state that with no drop in alcohol intake, there will be 147,892 more cases of nine alcohol-related diseases and 9,914 more premature deaths, costing 1.2bn UK pounds.
University of Sheffield researcher Dr Colin Angus said: “These figures highlight that the pandemic’s impact on our drinking behaviour is likely to cast a long shadow on our health and paint a worrying picture at a time when NHS services are already under huge pressure due to treatment backlogs.”
Dr Sadie Boniface of the Institute of Alcohol Studies added: “The pandemic has been bad for alcohol harm: deaths from alcohol have reached record levels, and inequalities have widened."
But she said: “The increases in alcohol harm, lives lost, and costs to the NHS projected in our study are not inevitable. This research should act as a ‘wake-up call’ to take alcohol harm seriously as part of recovery planning from the pandemic.”
Angus, C. et al. Modelling the impact of changes in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic on future alcohol-related harm in England. 26 July 2022
Boniface, S. et al. The COVID Hangover 26 July 2022
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