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AFS comment on 10 Year Health Plan for England

The UK Government has today (3 July 2025) published ‘Fit for the Future’, their new 10 Year Health Plan for England.

The plan was billed as a major shift towards prevention, yet fails to include any of the most cost-effective and effective policies to reduce alcohol harm.

Commenting on the Plan, Alison Douglas, CEO of Alcohol Focus Scotland said,

Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland said, “The UK Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England fails to include any of the World Health Organization’s ‘3 best buys’ for tackling alcohol harm: increasing the price, restricting alcohol marketing, and reducing the availability of alcohol. International evidence shows these are the most effective and cost-effective actions. 

“It is particularly surprising that the UK Government hasn’t followed Scotland’s lead in bringing forward minimum unit pricing, given the evidence that it has reduced alcohol-specific deaths by an estimated 13.4%. 

“Alcohol deaths have risen across the whole of UK following the pandemic, with people in in our poorest communities suffering the most. Improving alcohol labels - particularly to include specific health warnings - is a small step in the right direction but is totally inadequate to the scale of the task. There is limited evidence on promoting use of no and low products.

“Without addressing how alcohol is priced, sold and promoted by the alcohol industry, we won’t see any real change in the serious levels of alcohol harm experienced by people, their families and communities. These policies are often unpopular with the alcohol industry because they are effective in reducing consumption and therefore can affect profits, but polling shows there is widespread support from the public. Governments across the UK need to put public health before private profit.”