News
- 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
- Scottish Greens call for action on alcohol marketing
- SWA will appeal to UK Supreme Court
- SWA urged to respect minimum pricing decision
- Minimum pricing can be implemented in Scotland
- AFS welcomes revised alcohol consumption guidelines
- Emergency services face shocking levels of alcohol abuse
- Every child has the right to grow up safe from alcohol harm
- New toolkit to help children affected by family alcohol problems
- Alcohol campaigners unite to call for stronger protection from alcohol advertising to children
- No completely 'safe' level of drinking
- New alcohol guidelines published
- Minimum pricing - European court ruling
- Alcohol: a global concern
Study reveals those already at risk from heavy drinking bought more alcohol during lockdowns
Research by Newcastle University shows that adults already at risk of harm from heavy drinking bought significantly more alcohol during Covid-19 lockdowns – however, this was less pronounced in Scotland and Wales compared to England.
The researchers point to this possibly being linked to the Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) policy in place in both Scotland and Wales – which has already been shown to reduce supermarket and store purchases of alcohol, particularly amongst some of the heaviest-drinking households.
In response to the study, Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland said,
“It is encouraging to see that minimum unit pricing (MUP) may have had a positive effect in limiting the increase in alcohol-sales during the pandemic with both Scotland and Wales experiencing smaller rises in sales than seen in regions of England. In the first years since the introduction of minimum unit pricing we’ve seen some positive impacts including a reduction in consumption, an initial decrease in deaths (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), and no unintended consequences.
“However, this study still paints a deeply concerning picture of alcohol sales across the UK and with the increase in deaths from alcohol in 2020 we cannot afford to take our eye off the ball. Further action needs to be taken to change our unhealthy relationship with alcohol. We urge the Scottish Government to increase the minimum unit price of alcohol to at least 65p per unit to optimise the benefits and save more lives. We also need to improve treatment and recovery support so that those with an existing alcohol issue can receive help wherever they live, when they need it.”
The study, published today in international scientific journal PLOS ONE, could help to explain why 2020 saw the biggest jump in alcohol-related deaths in the UK in the last two decades.
Academics from Newcastle University and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria, found that Britain’s heaviest drinkers - those in the top fifth of households that would consistently purchase the most alcohol - bought around 17 times more from shops and supermarkets than the bottom fifth during the lockdown period between March and July 2020.
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data reveals there were 8,974 registered deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK in 2020 - an 18.6% increase compared with 2019 and the highest year-on-year rise in 20 years.
Adults buying around a litre of vodka each week
This latest research analysed recorded shopping data from almost 80,000 households between 2015 and 2020, which included around 5 million purchases of alcohol, to map-out buying habits over time.
The average purchase per adult within the top fifth group was significantly higher than any other group – at around 38 units per week – which equates to just under a litre of 40% ABV vodka or four bottles of 12% ABV wine per person. However, this was averaged out per household, which could mean individuals in many households were drinking much more than this amount. Also, the shopping data may not have included extra ‘top-up’ purchases of alcohol that weren’t recorded – meaning actual levels could have been higher.
Households in more socially disadvantaged areas also bought more, as did those living in the North of England.
Unravelling a paradox
The study was carried out in an attempt to unravel what appeared to be a paradox between purchase data, public surveys and alcohol deaths – where overall shopping sales data had suggested that alcohol purchases in Britain did not appear to significantly increase after Covid-19 lockdowns were first announced in March of 2020, once the missing sales in pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants had been taken into account. However, many public surveys had suggested an increase in alcohol-related problems, and ONS data showed a sharp rise in deaths that were directly linked to alcohol misuse, indicating that some people were drinking a lot more.
This new study looked at that shopping data again - this time linking it more closely to factors such as household income, geographical location, alongside how much alcohol households would typically buy before lockdown.
The new analysis showed that the top fifth of households in England that would normally buy the most alcohol in shops and supermarkets increased their purchases around 17 times more than the bottom fifth. Households in more socially disadvantaged locations also bought more.
The study also found that households in the North of England - including the North East and Yorkshire and Humber regions - increased their purchases more than in any other part of Britain, with the suggestion that this is probably because the North has more heavier-purchasing households.
Patterns were different in Scotland and Wales
The analysis also showed that the increase in purchasing was generally less pronounced in Scotland and Wales compared to England, which could be down to the Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) policy currently in place in both Scotland and Wales – which has already been shown to reduce supermarket and store purchases of alcohol, particularly amongst some of the heaviest-drinking households.
The study comes as figures released earlier this week from the Government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities showed that around eight million people in England are drinking so much wine, beer or spirits at home that it is harmful to their health, with a large increase in the numbers of people drinking at levels considered to be dangerous.
Authors call for a focus on policies that reduce high levels of drinking
Lead author Professor Peter Anderson from Newcastle University, said:
“Our analysis has highlighted that the heaviest drinkers and those living in some of the most deprived communities in the UK have increased their household alcohol purchases significantly during Covid-19 lockdown periods, with undoubted consequences for both physical and mental health - and in many thousands of cases sadly leading to death.
“This suggests that a focus on policies to reduce high levels of drinking are even more important in extraordinary times, such as those we’ve seen since March 2020 - where a complex range of factors can lead to higher and potentially dangerous levels of longer-term drinking.
“It’s also interesting to see that the increase in purchases were much less-pronounced in Scotland and Wales, which could be down to the minimum unit pricing policy in these devolved areas – a policy that has been proven to reduce alcohol purchases amongst the heaviest drinkers.”
Report co-author Dr Amy O’Donnell from Newcastle University, added:
“When we look at the latest figures for alcohol-attributable deaths for 2020, most of these are related to chronic, longer-term conditions associated with continued misuse of alcohol.
“It’s therefore likely that the significant increase in alcohol-attributable deaths we’ve seen in 2020 will have been amongst those with previous history of alcohol misuse or dependence, and our latest analysis of buying habits appears to support this.”
Report co-author Professor Eileen Kaner, Professor of Public Health and Primary Care Research at Newcastle University and Director of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria, said:
“Our research paints a worrying picture, where those already at risk of health harms from higher levels of drinking appear to have increased their drinking even more during lockdown. This comes with potentially serious consequences for individual health outcomes, as well as having significant impacts on health services including primary care, mental health services, addiction support services, acute care and more.
“Covid-19 has undoubtedly had an impact on drinking habits within the UK. As we continue to live in uncertain times whilst moving towards a recovery from Covid-19, it’s even more important that we focus on alcohol harm prevention strategies, including those that limit very low pricing of alcohol.”
Read the paper The COVID-19 alcohol paradox: British household purchases during 2020 compared with 2015-2019 (plos.org)