North East continues to top the tables for alcohol harm
New figures released today (Tuesday 29th April) by Public Health England have revealed that despite a decline in alcohol-related deaths, the North East continues to suffer from some of the highest rates of alcohol harms.
However, figures for admissions to hospital with alcohol-related conditions and alcohol specific mortality rates are improving faster in the North East than in any other region.
The Local Alcohol Profiles for England show the North East has:
- The highest rate of under 18s admitted to hospital with alcohol-specific conditions.
- The highest rate of admissions to hospital with alcohol-related conditions for males and females.
- The second highest rate of alcohol-specific mortality for both males and females.
- The second highest mortality rate from chronic liver disease for both males and females.
- The second highest months of life lost for both males and females.
- The North East recorded the lowest rate of alcohol-related crime, alcohol-related violent crime and alcohol-related sexual crime.
On a national level:
- National figures for alcohol-related mortality for men are down 1.9 per cent since the last update and 7.3 per cent over a five year period.
- For women, alcohol-related mortality figures are down 1.4 per cent since the last update and 6.8 per cent over a five year period.
- While the overall trend is downward there are still large variations between affluent and deprived areas.
Colin Shevills, Director of Balance, said: “It’s encouraging that rates for hospital admissions and mortality are falling fastest in the North East. Our partners and frontline services work extremely hard to reduce the impact that alcohol has on the health and wellbeing of the North East. However, it is still worrying that the North East continues to remain at the top of these tables – clearly more needs to be done.
“Alcohol is costing us our health, using valuable NHS resources which could be spent treating other patients and costing the North East economy millions each year. The fact is that too many people are drinking too much too often and it is having a devastating impact on the region. This is driven by alcohol that is too cheap, too widely available and too heavily marketed.
“To ensure these rates continue to fall we need Government to implement evidence-based measures such as a minimum unit price which will protect the most vulnerable people in our society which includes young people and heavy drinkers. Only then will we truly be able to tackle alcohol harms.”