90,000 people will die over the next 10 years from drink unless cheap alcohol is banned

90,000 people will die over the next 10 years from drink unless cheap alcohol is banned, a new report has claimed. Skip related content<br /> Related photos / videos Enlarge photo <br /> Related content<br /> Drink deaths 'treble in 25 years' <br /> Call made for minimum alcohol price <br /> Alcohol 'Will Kill 90,000' In Next Decade <br /> Related Hot Topic: Binge Drinking <br /> Have your say: Binge Drinking<br /> The charity Alcohol Concern issued the sobering warning after its latest research found drink-related deaths have trebled in Britain over the last 25 years from 3,054 in 1984 to 8,999 in 2008.<br /> <br /> To combat the problem, it proposes banning cheap booze by forcing suppliers to charge at least 50p per unit.<br /> <br /> Doing so would substantially reduce hospital admissions, crime and absence from work, the report claims.<br /> <br /> Research by the University of the West of England used by Alcohol Concern found there would be 90,800 deaths linked to drink by 2019 if current consumption continues.<br /> <br /> The lead author, Professor Martin Plant, said: "The UK has been experiencing an epidemic of alcohol-related health and social problems that is remarkable by international standards."<br /> <br /> The findings coincide with a new drive to reduce binge drinking in Greater Manchester, where the problem is particularly acute.<br /> <br /> Councils in the area are actively considering a minimum price for booze sold in its pubs, clubs and supermarkets.<br /> <br /> Police there have just begun a clampdown on licensees and bar staff who illegally serve people who are already drunk.<br /> <br /> But although binge drinking is usually blamed on the younger generations, Alcohol Concern has revealed the steepest rise in alcohol-related deaths is among the 55 to 74-year-olds.<br /> <br /> Peter Ivory still finds it hard to believe how close he came to being in that category.<br /> <br /> The 62-year-old former store manager from Sunderland always thought of himself as a social drinker.<br /> <br /> A few years ago his holiday was cut dramatically short when he was flown back from Spain with excruciating stomach pain. He collapsed and eventually had to have a liver transplant.<br /> <br /> He said: "I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I'm still alive.<br /> <br /> "But actually - if you lose your liver you lose your life."<br /> <br /> Peter now struggles with simple undemanding tasks and suffers from constant fatigue, nerve pain, high blood pressure and depression.<br /> <br /> He believes the "British epidemic" is leading thousands of young people down the same road.<br /> <br /> "People have to listen to the stories of people like me," he said.<br /> <br /> "We now have young people who are wrecking their lives. This is not about me telling others not to drink. It's about asking them to hear me and to plead with them not to end up like me."

90,000 people will die over the next 10 years from drink unless cheap alcohol is banned

90,000 people will die over the next 10 years from drink unless cheap alcohol is banned, a new report has claimed. Skip related content Rel...

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Alcohol-related deaths have almost trebled over the last 25 years

Alcohol-related deaths have almost trebled over the last 25 years, according to new research. Skip related content<br /> Related photos / videosCalls for minimum alcohol price limits Play video Darts legend Andy Fordham says alcohol nearly ... Play video Calls for minimum alcohol price limits Play video Drink deaths 'have trebled in 25 years' A study carried out by the University of the West of England for Alcohol Concern suggests that 90,800 people will die from drinking too much in the next ten years if current consumption levels continue.<br /> The charity said alcohol-related deaths went from 3,054 in 1984 to 8,999 in 2008.Alcohol Concern Chief Executive Don Shenker said: "Whilst there has been a small reduction in consumption and mortality over the last two years, the overall trend is a rise in consumption and a trebling of deaths since 1984."This rise runs in parallel with the growing affordability of alcohol. Without policies which more effectively target the cheap price of alcohol we will not get to grips with what has become one of the country's biggest public health problems."Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "Alcohol policies designed to reduce drinking in the whole population are misguided. Controls on the total amount we drink will not work. What we need is a new debate about effective policy measures that are clearly targeted at the minority who misuse alcohol."<br /> <br /> <blockquote>England is one of the heaviest drinking countries in Europe, with more than a third of men and a fifth of women exceeding Government limits, Alcohol Concern said.<br /> </blockquote>In 2006 to 2007, the estimated cost of alcohol abuse to the NHS was £2.7 billion, and the Government said last year that the total expense of harm caused by drink was around £17.7 to £25.1 billion per year.

Alcohol-related deaths have almost trebled over the last 25 years

Alcohol-related deaths have almost trebled over the last 25 years, according to new research. Skip related content Related photos / videosC...

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