Scotland's Alcohol-Related Fatalities Reach Highest Level in 14 Years

author: FutureCar Staff    

The number of alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland has reached a 14-year-high, despite the government's efforts to reduce it through the implementation of a minimum unit price policy. Official figures published on Tuesday revealed this concerning trend.

The government recently altered a press release that initially stated evidence "showed" the effectiveness of the Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) policy in reducing alcohol deaths and hospitalizations. The revised statement now claims that the benefits are "estimated." Critics of the MUP policy argue that these population-level policies rarely succeed.

Scotland's alcohol minister defended the policy, stating that she believes the death toll would have been even higher without it. In 2022, the number of alcohol-specific deaths rose to 1,276, the highest level since 2008. Although there was a one-off drop in 2019, the overall trend has been steadily increasing over the past decade.

The number of male deaths remained unchanged from the previous year, at 836, while female deaths increased by 31 to 440. When accounting for population size and age, the alcohol-specific age-standardized mortality rate in 2022 was 22.9 per 100,000 people, the highest level since 2009.

The implementation of the MUP policy, which sets a minimum price of 50 pence per unit of alcohol, was intended to reverse this trend. However, the death toll continued to rise, indicating limited effectiveness. Christopher Snowdon, a researcher at the Institute of Economic Affairs, argues that population-level policies like minimum pricing rarely work. He suggests focusing on providing help and treatment for individuals who consume large quantities of alcohol.

During the pandemic, access to face-to-face treatment for dependent drinkers became challenging, which contributed to the spike in alcohol-related deaths. Scotland's alcohol minister, Elena Whitham, maintains that MUP has prevented some deaths and cites an evaluation from Public Health Scotland that estimates hundreds of lives saved due to the policy.

Laura Mahon, the deputy chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, also supports the MUP policy and calls for further increases in the minimum unit price to keep up with inflation. She believes that without MUP, the death toll would be even higher.

The recent controversy surrounding the effectiveness of MUP arose from an altered government press release. Initially, the release referred to a synthesis of 40 studies that demonstrated "strong evidence" of MUP's positive impact on reducing alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions. However, critics pointed out that only one study supported this claim. The government subsequently changed the wording of the press release to state that the benefits were "estimated."

Despite the controversy, Public Health Scotland maintains that overall evidence supports the positive impact of MUP on health outcomes. They emphasize that there is no clear evidence of substantial negative impacts on the alcoholic drinks industry or social harms at the population level.

The PHS report, which incorporated feedback from civil servants, underwent revisions before its publication. Draft versions of the report and email exchanges between PHS and the government revealed that the government provided feedback on factual corrections and policy usefulness. Some suggestions from civil servants were incorporated into the final version of the report.

Looking ahead, the possibility of a ban on alcohol advertisements is not ruled out. The alcohol minister stated that the government will evaluate responses and make decisions based on a public health perspective.

FutureCar Staff