I recently came across an article on the British Guardians website which highlighted the extremely high death toll attributed to binge drinking.

According to the article in 2011-2012 there were over 1.2 million alcohol related hospital admissions in England, which is more than double the admissions a decade ago.

There has also been a wopping 500 per cent increase in deaths from liver cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse in the last 4 decades in that country. These problematic drinking trends are largely mimicked in countries such as Australia, where similar binge drinking problems have been identified.

Alcohol costs the British economy around £25bn each year (more than Aus$39billion) because of the huge impact on health, crime, societal woes, workplace and family problems. It has also been found to further entrench health and social inequalities.

These are some of the other findings, as reported on www.guardian.co.uk

The most socially and economically deprived have up to 10 times greater alcohol-related mortality and admissions to hospital. Approximately a third of all A&E attendances are alcohol-related, reaching up to 80% at weekends. Something has to be done.

Traditionally, we associate alcohol-related harm with the middle-aged, and it is true that this age group, especially men, have the highest rates of liver disease. However, liver specialists are now caring for teenagers with cirrhosis, or life-threatening necrosis of the pancreas, after just five years of sustained, heavy binge drinking.

Young women are especially vulnerable, since they have less body water than men, resulting in higher blood alcohol concentrations for the same amount of alcohol drunk. I have seen five women in their 20s die from cirrhosis due to alcohol.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/03/alcohol-killing-many-minimum-unit-pricing

The article also describes the risks of heavy drinking on the health of drinkers, which includes high blood pressure, increased risk of strokes and developing cancer. There are extremely high and unacceptable numbers of young people, still in the 30s with permanent alcohol induced brain damage according to the article. These people require long term, supervised care which in addition to be highly expensive, there is a major shortage of.

Over the last decade an ease of availability of alcohol has led to increased abuse and subsequent social problems. Whereas before people went to a bar or pub to buy alcohol, now they need only venture as far as their local supermarket, where also is also being discounted so that customers are more encouraged to buy. Just like in Oz were a bottle of water can cost more than alcohol, alcohol in Britain is cheaper than bottled water and is almost 45 per cent more affordable now than it was in the early eighties.

The article goes on to explain:

The introduction of a 50p minimum unit price in England could bring a nearly 7% reduction in average alcohol consumption and prevent more than 3,000 alcohol-related deaths and 98,000 hospital admissions each year. In addition, it could reduce annual alcohol-related crimes by more than 40,000, including 10,500 violent crimes.

In British Columbia in Canada, a 10% increase in alcohol prices led to a 32% reduction in alcohol-related deaths and a 22% fall in the consumption of higher strength beers.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/03/alcohol-killing-many-minimum-unit-pricing