Welcome
Alcohol Focus Scotland is the national charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm. More about us
Our vision
A future free from the widespread health and social harm caused by alcohol.
Our mission
To deliver effective and cost-effective action to reduce alcohol consumption and harm in Scotland and beyond.
Our values
Independent, equitable and fair, evidence-based, person-centred, respectful and collaborative.
Key work
Restricting alcohol marketing
Promoting regulation that reduces the level of exposure – particularly of children and young people and people struggling with alcohol-related issues – to alcohol marketing.
Increasing the price of alcohol
Broadening support for optimising minimum unit pricing by introducing an automatic mechanism linking to affordability.
Mandatory health warning labels
For consumers to make an informed choice, alcohol labels need to provide clear product and health information.
Latest news
Health harming industries are undermining action on Scotland’s worsening health, warn experts
Sep 15, 2026: Public health policies are under sustained influence by commercial actors linked to tobacco, alcohol, and junk food, according to a new report launched today by health charities, including British Heart Foundation Scotland, Obesity Action Scotland, ASH Scotland, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems and Alcohol Focus Scotland.
Unless Scottish Government takes action to reduce alcohol consumption and prevent population harm, it is undermining its own ambition on prevention.
Sep 3, 2026: Prevention was one of the much-hyped themes of this Programme for Government. With an ageing population and a growing prevalence of long-term conditions, our increasing need for the NHS has become unsustainable. The calls for action outlined in the Christie Commission fifteen years ago have become even louder – without a pivot to preventative action and early intervention, our public services will struggle to keep up.
AFS Response to Programme for Government 2026
Sep 1, 2026: The Scottish Government has today (1st September 2026) published it's Programme for Government 2026-2031. Read our response.
Leading health organisations demand urgent action on alcohol deaths
Aug 31, 2026: More than 20 organisations from across Scotland's health and social care sectors have joined together to urge the Scottish Government to secure the future minimum unit pricing (MUP) by introducing automatic uprating of the measure.
