The toll of disease linked to alcohol continues to increase in the UK – while teenagers are increasingly cautious about drinking, according to new figures.
The number of hospital admissions directly linked to alcohol increased by 30,000 in the most recent year for which figures are available. Admissions reach 1.09 million.
There was also a 4% increase in deaths from alcohol – a total of 6,830 people, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
The figures cover the period from 2014 to 2015.
Some 65% of those admitted to hospital with alcohol-related disease were men.
They show that in 2014 just 38% of secondary school pupils admitted having tried alcohol – the lowest proportion on record. In 1982 it was 62%.
During the same year, some 2.5 million people admitted drinking more than 14 units on at least one day of the year – while 58% of the UK population reported some use of alcohol.
Paul Niblett, from the centre, said: “These data provide an insight into the effect of alcohol on health services, and can offer a better understanding to the public, health professionals and policy makers of this on-going public health issue.”
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