Calls for the minimum price of a unit of alcohol in Scotland to increase
It's after a study found the heaviest drinkers bought more booze during lockdown, even though the pubs were shut
Health campaigners have called for the minimum price per unit to be raised in Scotland, after a study found the biggest drinkers bought more alcohol during lockdowns even though pubs were closed.
An academic study of 80,000 households' shopping habits could explain why 2020 saw the biggest increase in alcohol-related deaths in the UK in the last 20 years.
Health experts found Britain's heaviest drinkers - those in the top 20% of alcohol-buying households - purchased 17 times more drink from shops and supermarkets than those in the bottom 20% during the first lockdown.
Official data shows that in 2020 there were 8,974 registered deaths from alcohol-specific causes in the UK in 2020 - up 18.6% increase on 2019 and the highest year-on-year rise in two decades.
But the increases in alcohol purchases for the biggest drinking households in Scotland and Wales were not as sharp, perhaps explained by both countries operating minimum price per unit policies.
CEO of Alcohol Focus Scotland Alison Douglas says that supports their argument that the minimum price in Scotland – which has been 50p per unit since the policy was introduced – should be increased to 65p.
She told MFR News: “We now need to take account of inflation, and really we should be seeing a minimum price of 65 pence per unit. That would also increase the impact of minimum price, saving and improving more lives.
“We also need to be doing more to prevent people from developing an alcohol problem in the first place.”
Liver specialist Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: "This latest research on alcohol sales over the course of the pandemic highlights the urgent need for the Government to take action to protect the most vulnerable drinkers and disadvantaged communities from alcohol harm.
"We know the number of high-risk drinkers in the UK is on the rise.
"Numerous lockdowns, isolation, bereavement and job losses have changed many people's relationship with alcohol over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We have seen deaths linked to alcohol reach record numbers and one in five people in the UK currently drink alcohol in a way that could harm their liver."
He added: "This study suggests that minimum unit pricing can make a difference to purchases - with household alcohol purchases from shops and supermarkets in Scotland and Wales not increasing by the same level as England over the course of the 2020 lockdown."