News
- Survey shows post-pandemic increase in drinking for some
- Scottish Government commit to further plans to restrict alcohol marketing
- Challenge and Change: Rod Anderson
- Parliament must come together to renew and reinvigorate MUP
- A responsible drinking campaign that features cocktail recipes
- Unacceptable rise in alcohol-specific deaths
- Health experts share concerns about complaint made on MUP evaluation
- Decline in alcohol treatment in Scotland
- Challenge and Change: Lived Experience Voices on Alcohol Marketing
- Blog post for Alcohol Awareness Week 2023
- Final verdict on MUP
- Alcohol and diabetes
- Doctors say lack of response on alcohol deaths could spell disaster for Scotland
- MUP reduces deaths and hospital admissions
- Alcohol hospital admissions continue to be too high
- Lessons learned from countries with marketing restrictions
- What is the effect of alcohol marketing on people with or at risk of an alcohol problem?
- ONS figures show highest alcohol deaths on record
- MUP and alcohol sales
- Scottish Government launches alcohol marketing consultation
- MUP and alcohol products and prices
- Scottish Health Survey 2021
- New licensing policy review guide
- Slight increase in alcohol-specific deaths
- Health campaigners call on Scottish Government to regulate alcohol packaging
- Scottish charity calls for ban on all alcohol promotion
- New NCD Prevention Report - Mapping Future Harm
- Online Alcohol Sales & Deliveries: A survey of young people in Scotland
- Four years of MUP
- Prominent health warnings make drinking “unappealing”
- Insights from People in Recovery
- Meet our Engagement Team Marc
- Meet our Engagement Team Megan
- Report on alcohol sales and harm in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Sugar content in wine revealed
- Alcohol hospital admissions lower during pandemic
- Study reveals those already at risk from heavy drinking bought more alcohol during lockdowns
- Alcohol policy measures could reduce ambulance callouts
- 18.6% increase in deaths from alcohol in 2020
- Widespread support for calls to increase minimum unit price for alcohol to 65p
- Students as Change Agents
- Health charities call for action to save lives from Scotlands biggest killers
- Three quarters of Scots back new controls to help protect children from alcohol advertising
- Alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland increase
- More accurate estimates for the burden of Alcohol on the Ambulance Service: around 1 in 6 callouts in Scotland are alcohol related
- How can alcohol labels be improved to help people make informed consumption choices
- Health experts call for better alcohol labelling
- Young people and their views on alcohol marketing
- Lowest alcohol sales in Scotland for 26 years
- Minimum unit pricing has lasting impact study shows
- Euros renews call for action to protect children from alcohol sports sponsorship
- Current alcohol labelling of little relevance to young adult drinkers
- Governments should step up efforts to tackle harmful alcohol consumption
- Scottish public and leading health experts back changes to alcohol labelling
- AFS calls for 65p minimum unit price for alcohol
- How will the main parties prevent harm from alcohol?
- Alcohol labelling reform is way past its sell by date
- Alcohol policy priorities for the next parliament
- Young drinkers believe prominent health warnings on alcohol could boost risk awareness
- Alcohol and the Workplace Effective Interventions
- Alcohol sales and consumption in Scotland during the pandemic
- How can we prevent alcohol deaths?
- Alcohol Deaths and Minimum Unit Pricing
- YoungScot Health Panel report on alcohol marketing and harm
- Young Scots show support for restrictions on alcohol marketing
- New release of alcohol related hospital admissions
- Better alcohol labelling – A way to boost awareness of the risk between alcohol and cancer?
- NICE Guidelines on FASD Surveillance or Support?
- Alcohol Deaths Prevention Support
- Almost half of Scots in favour of minimum unit pricing
- Leading health charities call for action in Scotland
- Health experts campaign for better understanding of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
- Health experts call for alcohol labelling overhaul
- Australian ministers agree to visible pregnancy warning
- Alcohol Focus Scotland welcomes new WHO report on alcohol pricing
- Survey shows Scots lockdown drinking rise caused by stress
- Statistical analysis of off-trade alcohol sales in the year following MUP
- Alcohol Focus Scotland Review of statements of licensing policy 2018 to 2023
- We need to continue long-term focus on alcohol
- Scots report changing drinking patterns during coronavirus lockdown
- Time to Blow the Whistle on Alcohol Sport Sponsorship
- New evidence demonstrates that alcohol ads lead to youth drinking
- Alcohol sales fall in first year of MUP
- First study published into under 18 drinkers post MUP
- Commission on Alcohol Harm calls for evidence
- Two years on Are annual functions reports reaching their potential?
- We need to do more to protect our children and young people
- New Alcohol Deaths Prevention Support Now Available from AFS
- Scottish primary children call for action on alcohol
- Its time to tell us whats in our drinks
- A home for Rory
- Making a bad impression - blog post
- Alcohol marketing and children debate in the Scottish Parliament
- Alcohol sales and MUP
- Lowest alcohol sales in 25 years
- Research into fall in violence
- The Children's Parliament investigates an alcohol-free childhood
- Minimum unit pricing one year on
- More about sales data
- A family of resources it is all about prevention, education and resilience
- AFS publish Review of Licensing Board Annual Functions Reports 2017-2018
- Marketing unmasked dispelling the myths and taking a stand
- No place for alcohol marketing in sport
- Scotland publishes first UK guidelines for diagnosing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
- The Alcohol Framework 2018 Preventing Harm
- Scotlands new drug and alcohol strategy launched
- AFS welcome new alcohol strategy
- Recent reporting on alcohol sales data
- Diageo is failing to provide latest guidelines on their products
- Drinks companies keeping consumers in dark about risky drinking
- Reducing alcohol consumption can address health inequalities
- Global first alcohol policy set to save hundreds of Scots' lives
- AFS welcomes minimum unit pricing for alcohol
- Truer picture of alcohol harm revealed
- Alcohol causes 3,700 deaths in Scotland every year
- Scotland's licensing system needs clearer direction
- Minimum pricing blog
- Minimum pricing gets green light
- Alcohol brands and young people
- Time for honest conversations about alcohol
- Q&A on alcohol marketing
- UK children anxious about parents' drinking
- Alcohol producers failing to inform public
- Concern over alcohol-related deaths
- We need to make it easier for people to drink less
- Worrying rise in alcohol-related deaths
- Minimum pricing will save lives
- Pocket money prices for alcohol continue
- Scotland's alcohol problem laid bare
- Cheap alcohol is costing Scotland dear
- One drink a day can increase breast cancer risk
- Poverty linked to increased harm from alcohol
- What next for reducing alcohol harm in Scotland?
- Scotland must do more to turn tide of alcohol harm
- Concern as funding for alcohol services cut
- Scottish Government urged to curb alcohol marketing
- Consumers have the right to know health risks
- Alcohol-free childhood is healthiest option
- SWA granted leave to appeal minimum pricing
- SWA will appeal to UK Supreme Court
- SWA urged to respect minimum pricing decision
- Minimum pricing can be implemented in Scotland
- Emergency services face shocking levels of alcohol abuse
- Every child has the right to grow up safe from alcohol harm
- Minimum pricing - European court ruling
Alcohol Focus Scotland launches manifesto to tackle harm from alcohol
Ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary elections AFS has launched their new manifesto calling on all candidates and parties to commit to:
- Take action to restrict alcohol marketing
- Mandate nutrition and health information on alcohol labels
- Address the low-cost of alcohol
- Tackle the easy availability of alcohol
- Provide support that saves lives and promotes recovery
Legislation approved by previous parliaments has had a positive effect on reducing alcohol consumption and harm, but as we prepare for recovery from the pandemic we need to renew our efforts.
The unjust and unacceptable cost of alcohol
Every day in Scotland, 10 people die and over 100 people are hospitalised due to alcohol. Around a quarter of adults in Scotland drink more than the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines, meaning that at least one million of us are putting our health at risk due to our drinking.
Alcohol is a leading risk factor for death, disability, and ill health in Scotland. It causes over 200 health conditions and diseases such as liver cirrhosis, cancer, heart disease and stroke, can affect our mental health and contributes to the breakdown of families and relationships.
It is unjust and unacceptable that those of us who experience the greatest inequalities suffer the most. People in our poorest communities are seven times more likely to be admitted to hospital and over four times more likely to die due to alcohol than those in our most affluent areas.
Our problems with alcohol mean that we did not go into the COVID-19 crisis fighting fit. The pandemic and the associated restrictions have polarised drinking patterns; around one million people in Scotland reported drinking more than usual during lockdown, with those who were already drinking at heavier levels more likely to have increased. For those who need it, easy access to treatment and support is an essential part of their recovery. However, more than ever we needmpreventative alcohol policies that save and improve lives and reduce demand on our NHS.
Prevention is possible
Scotland can continue to lead the way with our progressive whole population approach to alcohol, founded on protecting and promoting the right to health. The evidence to date from the evaluation of minimum unit pricing (MUP) shows that the right policies can help change Scotland’s drinking culture. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Christie Commission, prevention and reducing inequalities must be at the heart of Scotland’s recovery.
Addressing the price, availability and marketing of unhealthy products is essential to reducing the harm they cause. This has been accepted for decades on tobacco, with significant success. Minimum unit pricing and multi-buy restrictions have shown regulation works for alcohol too.
Our recommendations
Restrict alcohol marketing
- Introduce an independent system of marketing regulation to protect the vulnerable, particularly children and young people. This should include restrictions on outdoor advertising, sport and event sponsorship and digital media.
Mandate alcohol labelling
- Mandate nutrition and health information on alcohol labels to enable people to make informed and healthier choices.
Increase the price
- Raise the minimum unit price for alcohol to reflect price inflation and to optimise the effect of the policy in reducing alcohol harm.
- Link future price increases to inflation or the retail price index.
- Establish an alcohol harm prevention supplement on alcohol sold in the off-trade, to offset the costs of alcohol to our communities.
Control availability
- Hold a national conversation to inform the development of a national availability strategy to reduce health and social harm.
- Review and improve public participation in the licensing system to ensure it better meets the needs of local communities.
Provide support that saves lives and promotes recovery
- Ensure people have timely access to quality, rights-based treatment, which is informed by research into the level of need and evidence of effectiveness in supporting people in their recovery.
- Encourage investment in preventative, early identification services as part of a whole systems approach to alcohol treatment and care.
Read our manifesto Tackling harm from alcohol: alcohol policy priorities for the next Parliament
26 March 2021.