A BBC report has highlighted further concerns over a lack of action to address high levels of alcohol misuse amongst the armed forces.
Professor Neil Greenberg, lead on military health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a former Navy Commander, said the current education based approach was not effective.
Greenberg said that awareness raising of alcohol harms "doesn't really work at all" as the main thrust of current military alcohol 'policy', which might include a briefing informing personnel that "alcohol was bad for them". Calls have previously been made to end subsidising of military bars and do more to reduce alcohol misuse before it becomes a serious health or disciplinary issue.
A heavy drinking culture amongst the armed forces has been documented by various studies, with one survey of 1,559 Royal Navy personnel showing 92% had some level of alcohol misuse based on AUDIT-C scores. Studies have also linked violent offending and mental health issues to alcohol misuse in the military.
In 2011 a defence select committee report called for the Ministry of Defence to conduct an urgent study into the issue of alcohol misuse within the armed forces. The report suggested 13% of military personnel have alcohol dependency, more than twice the prevalence in the general population. The committee said the MoD was "yet to recognise the seriousness of the alcohol problem and must review its policy in this area".
In May 2014 the Independent reported that record levels of alcohol abuse in Britain's armed forces led to more than 1,600 service personnel requiring medical treatment in the past year. The MoD said it had introduced a new system to better record instances of alcohol misuse which was why figures were rising, but Minister Anna Soubry pledged to take action against a culture of "drinking to the point of oblivion" in the armed forces.
According to this week's BBC report the Ministry of Defence said it had introduced extensive policy and guidance for commanders and an alcohol working group had been instigated to "review policy and data to identify what more we can do to tackle alcohol misuse in the armed forces".
See here for a letter in The BMJ's Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps from the authors of study into AUDIT-C scores and mental health within the military. See here for 'Alcohol use and misuse within the military: A review' [pdf].
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