Minimum alcohol price proposed to combat rise in alcohol-related liver disease in Brighton and Hove

The rate of hospital admissions caused by alcohol-related liver disease in Brighton and Hove has rocketed over the last five years.
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Liver experts at the Institute of Hepatology have called on the Government to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol to discourage drinking.

The latest data from Public Health England shows that the rate has gone up to 53 patients admitted for every 100,000 people between April 2016 and March 2017 – 119 per cent higher than five years earlier.

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That means 141 people in Brighton and Hove were admitted due to this condition in 2016-17.

The impact of alcohol-related liver disease on health services has been revealed in newly released figures from Public Health EnglandThe impact of alcohol-related liver disease on health services has been revealed in newly released figures from Public Health England
The impact of alcohol-related liver disease on health services has been revealed in newly released figures from Public Health England

The rate for the whole of England is 39 for every 100,000 people, but it ranges from 127 in Blackburn with Darwen to ten in Sutton.

| In East Sussex the rate is lower, at 24 patients per 100,000 residents, while in West Sussex it is 34 per 100,000 |

The data shows that men are twice as likely as women to receive hospital treatment for this illness across the country.

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Socioeconomic status is also a factor. The rate of alcohol-related liver disease admissions among the most deprived in society is 57 for every 100,000 people, but is below 29 for the most well off.

| Also in the news – parents of a boy who ran into the path of a car have shared video footage to highlight the importance of road safety; extra places are being funded in some of the most popular schools in Brighton and Hove; and a former Brighton & Hove Albion striker is the top scorer in Europe so far this season, ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane |

A spokesperson for Public Health England said: “Liver disease is one of the top causes of death in England and people are dying from it at younger ages. Most liver disease is preventable and much is influenced by alcohol consumption and obesity prevalence.”

In 2014, the Lancet Commission on alcohol-related liver diseases estimated that health problems caused by alcohol are costing the NHS £3.5billion a year.

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Professor Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology, proposed setting a minimum price per unit of alcohol to curb drinking.

He said: “Liver disease mortality rates have increased about 600 per cent in the last 50 years. That happens because alcohol consumption among the population has increased and this is linked to the fact that the costs of alcoholic drinks proportionally have fallen.

“Setting a minimum alcohol price is a highly effective way of dealing with the problem. In Canada, they had a 14 per cent drop in emergency admissions and eight per cent drop in mortality in the first 12 months after setting this minimum.”

Scotland adopted this measure in May, setting a 50 pence minimum price per unit of alcohol. The Welsh Government is planning to implement the same lowest price next summer.

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Judi Rhys, CEO of the British Liver Trust, called on GPs to improve their awareness of the risks.

She said: “Liver disease is a silent killer because there are often no obvious symptoms in the early stages. We know that at the moment three quarters of people are diagnosed in a hospital setting when the condition is quite advanced.

“GPs need to understand how to interpret the results of blood tests and clear pathways need to be commissioned so that they know who to refer and how to refer.

“There has also been an exponential increase in the supply of low price alcohol to the public with a growing range of cheap drink promotions in shops. More people drink at home and more people drink wine and spirits which have a much higher alcohol content.

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“A common myth is that you have to be an alcoholic to damage your liver. The term alcoholic is misleading as alcohol dependency is a spectrum and more than one in five people in the UK currently drink alcohol in way that could harm their liver.”

The NHS says alcohol-related liver disease doesn’t usually cause any symptoms until the liver has been severely damaged.

When that happens symptoms can include feeling sick, weight loss, loss of appetite and yellowing of the eyes and skin.

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