Doctors’ leaders have welcomed plans to enforce a 50p a unit minimum price for alcohol in Scotland.
The proposals are expected to have a big impact on cut-price supermarket drinks, increasing the price of the cheapest bottle of whisky by more than £4.
Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced the proposed price during a visit to a gastroenterology ward in Glasgow.
She said: “Cheap alcohol comes at a price and now is the time to tackle the toll that Scotland’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol is taking on our society.
“Too many Scots are drinking themselves to death. The problem affects people of all walks of life."
Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the Scottish BMA, said the price increase would prevent at least 8,600 hospital admissions and deaths related to alcohol annually.
He said: "A minimum price, as part of a wider strategy, could end Scotland’s heavy drinking culture and I am proud that Scotland’s politicians are once again leading the world on public health policy."
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