Liverpool three-year plan launched to beat alcohol problems
With the highest rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England, Liverpool residents are twice as likely to die from an alcohol-specific condition, such as liver disease, as nationally.
Dr Paula Grey, director of public health for Liverpool, said: “Alcohol contributes to some serious health and social problems in Liverpool – as it does in many other cities – and tackling these issues presents a major challenge.
“It is really important that organisations such as the NHS, the council and police continue to work together to address the causes and impacts of alcohol misuse. We also need to ensure that the wider population understands what it means to drink at harmful levels.
“Many of those who exceed recommended daily guidelines associate alcohol misuse with teenage binge drinkers and do not realise that their own behaviour is putting their health at risk.
“Part of our challenge is to make sure people realise what they are consuming and what the effects could be, so they can make informed decisions.”
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, liver specialist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and former President of the Royal College of Physicians, campaigns against alcohol misuse.
He said: “It is welcome to see organisations taking the initiative by introducing credible interventions to tackle alcohol-related harms and to continue to lobby for more strident national measures to protect the public, like a minimum unit price for alcohol and better control over its availability.”