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Registered Charity Number: 1001957
London

Government must make alcohol a priority when tackling health inequality

Date Posted: 11 Jun 2013

Addaction is shocked by the premature death statistics which have been published on Public Health England’s Longer Lives Website.

If we are to tackle these huge health inequalities, with three quarters of these premature deaths due to liver disease, alcohol must be at the very top of the health agenda. At Addaction, we see on a daily basis the huge health harms caused by alcohol. Far too many people are dying as a result of alcohol and the Government must start to focus their efforts and implement measures to urgently tackle this situation before it gets worse.

Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive of Adddaction says:

"There is no single answer to the UK’s alcohol problems, but is clear that decisive action must be taken with local authorities placing alcohol services at the top of their agenda in order for local areas to tackle liver disease. With Minimum Unit Pricing no longer going ahead the Government now need to recognise the important role that treatment plays and to ensure that the funding is available for these services to continue. Alongside this, there must be a dedication to providing education and prevention programmes that fully informs people about the health dangers and impact of problematic drinking. There also needs to be a commitment into looking at the availability of certain super strength alcohol and how it is marketed and sold."