Balance welcomes health campaign
Colin Shevills, Director of Balance, said: “A staggering two-thirds of North Easterners are unaware that drinking too much and too often increases the risk of cancer. Only half are aware that alcohol misuse is linked to stroke. The region’s awareness of the dangers needs to change.
“Change4Life will help highlight the risks, which is to be welcomed. However, it’s important that we view health education as part of a package of measures that need to be implemented if we are serious about tackling the damage caused by alcohol misuse.
“Pocket money prices, widespread availability and heavy promotion increase alcohol consumption and we need to tackle these through legislation. This includes the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol, an approach which has reportedly drawn interest from David Cameron, and preventing the alcohol industry from recruiting our children via marketing. Only then will we start to turn back the tide of alcohol misuse.”
Research published today (Sunday, February 5) for the first time by Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, reveals that:
- 36% of North Easterners think that drinking alcohol greatly increases the risk of cancer
- 52% think it greatly increases the risk of stroke
- 63% think it greatly increases the risk of coronary heart disease.
Some supporting stats and facts
- In the North East, 48% of men and 29% of women reported drinking above the Government’s recommended daily limits (2-3 units for a woman and 3-4 units for a man).
- One in five North Easterners binge drink on a weekly basis.
- We have the highest rate of alcohol related hospital admissions in the UK.
- We have the highest rate of alcohol related deaths for men in the UK and the Second highest rate of alcohol related deaths for women.