Is the west midlands drinking itself to death?

Regional alcohol group launch West midlands big drink debate 

www.bigdrinkdebate.co.uk

Do you enjoy a drink? Ninety percent of adults in the West Midlands region do - and for many of us it simply means a glass of wine with a meal or a pint with some friends in the pub. However for many others it means regularly drinking above the recommended daily limits, and this can and does lead to problems.  Excessive drinking not only can have a negative impact your health, but also can affect the safety and well being of individuals and communities. These effects in turn seriously impact upon public services such as the police, hospitals, and society in general.  

By simply clicking on to an online survey at www.bigdrinkdebate.co.uk you can give us your opinion on what we as a society can do to reduce the harmful impact that excessive drinking has on our society. The Regional Alcohol Group* want to hear from everyone who lives or works in the West Midlands, regardless of age or background about what they think should be done. 

Local events starting today 15TH October in Birmingham will be taking place across the region over the next six-weeks. The aim of these events is to publicise the survey and raise awareness of how excessive drinking impacts negatively upon our society.  For instance did you know that the West Midlands have the third highest alcohol related death rate in the country? In 2005, nearly 2,700 people died from medical conditions related to alcohol and that in the last year for every 1000 people living in the West Midlands there were ten crimes, committed attributable to the excessive consumption of alcohol. 

Launching the debate, Regional Director of Public Health Dr Rashmi Shukla CBE said:

“We know that this region has a problematic relationship with alcohol and this is contributing towards some pretty scary statistics including rising numbers of people being admitted to hospital with an alcohol related illness and the numbers of people being involved in violent crimes related to excessive drinking. 

The question is what we do to reduce the harmful impact that excessive drinking is having on this region. The West Midlands Big Drink Debate is an opportunity for you to tell us what should be done.”

Key Headline Facts

Please note: These facts are specific to the West Midlands Government region as opposed to the West Midlands Conurbation area.

• 1 in 4 people in England have an alcohol use disorder. 
• 6% of men and 2% women have an alcohol dependency.
• Between 1960 and 2002 consumption in England doubled.
•  Deaths from liver cirrhosis in the UK trebled between 1970 and 1998 and are still rising. The rates for West Midlands men and women are higher than the England average.
• The West Midlands has the third highest alcohol related death rate (17.1 per 100,000 for men and 8.1 per 100,000 for women).
• In 2005 nearly 2700 people in the West Midlands died from medical conditions attributable to alcohol.
• The West Midlands region has one of the highest Alcohol Related Hospital Admissions Rates in England. This amounted to 89,000 people in 2006-7 being admitted to hospital with an alcohol related condition.
• Data for 2006/07 shows that 2,129 young people under the age of 18 in the West Midlands were admitted to hospital because of drinking too much alcohol.
• For every 1,000 people living in the West Midlands, in the last year there were 10 crimes, including 7.3 violent crimes, attributable to alcohol. This amounts to 54,683 crimes attributable to alcohol; of this 39,190 are violent and 763 are of a sexual nature. Incidents of domestic violence are included in the headline figure but often go unreported.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF WEST MIDLANDS  REGIONAL ALCOHOL GROUP* BY COI NEWS & PR WEST MIDLANDS – 0121 352 5516 / 07966 284 685

*The Regional Alcohol Group is a multi-agency partnership across the NHS, Police, Probation, Trading Standards, Voluntary and Community Groups and some government departments. The aim of the group is to ensure that the national strategy to reduce alcohol related harm is implemented at a regional level.