On the binge

At the end of 2007 a number of observers and reports suggested that binge drinking has now reached very serious levels.

In December The Daily Telegraph, using official data on alcohol-related admission to NHS hospitals in England, calculated that 500 binge drinkers on average are admitted to hospital every day. In some trustsabout 5% of admissions are due to alcohol induced health problems.

This represents a rise of 31%, or nearly a third in the last two years. In 2003/04 there were 147,659 such admissions, in 2004/05 there were 170,130, while in 2005/06 the figure had reached 193,637. Drinking liberalisation, that is availability 24 hours per day, was introduced during 2005/06 and may have contributed, but there was an increase even before this. These figures for 2005/06 included 4,000 young people aged less than 14. Girls are less able to withstand the effect of alcohol, and they now amount to 60% of all under-age admissions due to alcohol.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has calculated that these admissions cost in 2005/06 about £32 million in a year. This figure includes only the cost of admissions. There will be an addition figure to cover policing costs, as officers are transferred to night duty and leaving the day under-covered, and the figures do not include accidents and violence related to drunkenness but not requiring hospitalisation.

Quite apart from immediate hospital and other costs, there are three more serious long term consequences.

1) In 2005/06 6,517 people died from excessive drinking in England, an increase of 20% in five years.

2) On alcohol treatment programmes the number under-18s has increased from 4,781 in 2006 to 6,707 in 2007, a jump of 40%. Among 12 to14 year olds the rise has been even more dramatic, - a rise of 62%, from 592 to 953.

3) The have been steep rises in cirrhosis of the liver. Since 2000 the number of sufferers has risen by 95%, by 36% in the two years 2004-06. About 5,000 people each year die from liver disease, and a further 17,000 die prematurely for reasons of alcohol consumption. Doctors are now seeing liver damaged patients at younger ages, even as early as late teens or early twenties.

Since 1970 alcohol consumption has increased by 50%.

The total NHS costs of treating alcohol-related injuries and diseases is estimated to be about £1.7 billion, which added to the estimate of £7.3 billion police costs, means about £9 billion annually.

Such are the “facts”. Why this has all happened is partly a matter of conjecture.

• The alcoholic strength of wine has increased on average from about 9 % in 1978 to 12.5% in 2007, which must have some contribution.

• The price and availability makes alcoholic drink more accessible to younger people, - a 22 pence can of larger from the supermarket is frequently mentioned. Pubs offer “happy hours” where drinks are much reduced in price, - to act as loss leaders and enticing drinkers.

• It is possible that liberalisation has made things worse, - the police opinion is that it has led to more crime and disturbance, but the affect on binge drinking is not yet known. The new era began just two years ago.