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AFS comment on the PHS 10 Year Health Strategy

Public Health Scotland has published its new 10-year health strategy for Scotland, Together We Can. Alcohol Focus Scotland welcomes the strategy, particularly its recognition of the scale of alcohol harm in Scotland and its strong focus on prevention and health equity. 

We are encouraged by the strategy’s commitment to policies that reduce exposure to harmful products by tackling accessibility, affordability, availability, price and promotions, alongside its clear recognition of commercial determinants as a major influence on population health. 

The emphasis on protecting children is especially welcome and aligns closely with our Alcohol-Free Childhood campaign, which makes clear that alcohol marketing has no place in childhood and that children have the right to play, learn and socialise in environments that are healthy, safe and free from alcohol marketing. 

Following Public Health Scotland’s report last year showing a 40% reduction in people accessing alcohol treatment over the past decade, it is positive that the strategy’s 2035 vision includes a clear commitment to fair access and faster care. 

However, we’d like to have seen greater ambition to reduce alcohol deaths by 2035, comparable to the stated aim of halving obesity and creating a smoke free generation. Simply targeting a lower alcohol death rate within 10 years, whilst positive, falls far short of international targets. 

Delivering or exceeding the strategy’s ambitions on alcohol harm will require the Scottish Government’s forthcoming alcohol and drug strategy to take a comprehensive approach to both prevention and treatment, including implementation of many of the measures set out in our 2025 call for urgent action.  

This includes strong protections from alcohol marketing—particularly for children and young people—in line with findings from Public Health Scotland’s Rapid Literature Review on Alcohol Marketing published in late 2025; automatic uprating of minimum unit pricing, expanded early detection of liver disease, and increased investment in treatment and support. 

Whosoever forms the next Scottish Government must act with the genuine, urgent intent that has been lacking in recent years if we are to truly address Scotland’s ongoing alcohol health emergency.