Updated Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE 2011) figures have been released, drawing media attention to areas with highest rates of harm and a continuing upwards national trend. Total alcohol-related admissions for England reached over one million in 2009/10; an increase of 879 alcohol-related admissions per day compared to five years ago.
The figures indicate that over the five years to 2009/10 there has been a 24.6% increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital due to alcohol specific conditions. However LAPE now includes data indicating there are more than six million people over 16 in England who do not drink alcohol. Patterns of abstention relate strongly to ethnicity as estimates range from 6.4% of adults in Mid Devon to 48.0% in London's Newham borough.
Other reported findings include:
- Of the adult population that drink, on average 7.6% are 'higher risk' drinkers - those that regularly drink double the recommended guidelines and likely to be experiencing alcohol-related health harms
- Half of all local authority areas saw increases in the level of alcohol-related admissions of over 5% in the last year - only 2.1% showed a decrease of over 5%.
- Between 2007 and 2009 there were 11,198 deaths from chronic liver disease in males and 6,429 in females
- The number of deaths from chronic liver disease continues to rise steadily and increased by around 8.0% in both males and females between the periods 2003-2005 to 2007-2009
- Across England, there were 392,787 recorded crimes attributable to alcohol in 2010/11; equivalent to 7.6 crimes per 1,000 population.
- The highest rates of alcohol-attributable crime occur in the London region, where there were 11.7 crimes per 1,000 residents, although the number of crimes has decreased by 2.8% from 2009/10
A LAPE Topography of Drinking Behaviours in England report is available, as well as the recent Statistics on Alcohol: England, 2011 report
Professor Mark Bellis, Director, North West Public Health Observatory commented:
“The scale of damage revealed by these profiles shows that alcohol is a problem for everyone in England. Even those families not directly affected by alcohol related health problems, violence or abuse still pay towards the billions in taxes for the policing, health services and social support required to tackle this national problem. Cheap alcohol is no longer a commodity that this country can afford."
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) issued a press release stating the figures continued to show the 'harmful impact of cheap supermarket alcohol', calling for tougher goverment action and responsibilty from big retailers. But writing to several newspapers, the Portman Group rejected the figures as inaccurate.
See coverage from The Telegraph, Guardian, BBC and Daily Mail.
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