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The Scottish Government has said the price increase will help save lives, with the latest figures showing the rate of alcohol-related deaths remains the highest in the UK.
The progress has been welcomed by doctors, but they have urged the Scottish Government to go further and stop “dragging its feet” on plans to restrict the marketing of alcohol.
Drug and alcohol policy minister Christina McKelvie said the 30 per cent increase would help save more lives.
In April, he told Holyrood that voting in favor of the rise would “show that Scotland continues to lead the world, with policies to improve people’s health”.
However, Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane spoke out against the increase, arguing that increasing the minimum unit price “disproportionately penalizes responsible drinkers on low incomes and those who are dependent on alcohol “.
Specialist doctors’ group Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), has welcomed the progress, and called for much more to be done to tackle the high levels of deaths from alcohol in Scotland.
The group said MUP was widely regarded as Scotland’s most thoroughly evaluated policy, an independent evaluation by Public Health Scotland had concluded that the population as a whole was drinking less, had directly saved 156 lives and avoided 411 hospital admissions each year and reduced alcohol-related health inequalities.
However, a combination of the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption patterns and the level of the minimum unit price not being upgraded after its introduction in 2018 means that Scotland is now experiencing high levels of deaths which relating specifically to alcohol.
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Dr Peter Rice, Chair of SHAAP, said: “Although minimum unit pricing has undoubtedly mitigated the worst of the pandemic’s effects on alcohol consumption in many countries around the world, it is tragic that last year 1,277 people lost their lives in Scotland directly because of alcohol.
“The Scottish Government must maintain the effectiveness of the minimum unit price by upgrading it annually so that cheaper alcohol which causes the most harm does not become more affordable over time, but we need to see much more than this if Government Scotland for responding effectively to the public. health crisis of alcohol harm in Scotland.
“Instead we see a government that is dragging its feet over plans to restrict the marketing of alcohol products in the face of intense opposition from the industry and its allies, with no alternative plans being implemented.”
He added: “If it is to prevent the huge health, social and economic harm caused by alcohol in Scotland, the Scottish Government needs to build on the success of the MUP policy by taking forward measures to reset our relationship with alcohol and protect health . and the welfare of future generations.”
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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