Scotland is set to increase the minimum price of alcohol by 30%. The decision will raise the price of alcohol from 50p per unit to 65p. The move comes after the country became the first in the world to introduce a minimum price on alcohol in 2018. The change is designed to reflect inflation and will come into effect from the end of September. A bottle of vodka will increase in price from £13.13 to £17.06, while the cost of a can of lager will rise from £1 to £1.30.
Alcohol recovery groups and doctors have supported the decision, but are concerned that prevention services for those most at risk are insufficient. Official figures show that 700 people in Scotland are hospitalised each week, and 24 die as a result of alcohol. The Scottish Deep End Project, a group of GPs working in some of the most deprived regions of Scotland, claims that alcohol-related harms have reached a crisis level and that urgent investment is needed in the funding of related services. Dr. Ewan Forrest, a consultant liver specialist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, said that while minimum unit pricing is beneficial, it is not enough on its own.
Academics have consistently evaluated minimum unit pricing and found that it has saved an average of just over 150 lives per year since being introduced. Last year, Public Health Scotland reviewed it, along with 40 other studies examining the impact of the policy on public attitudes, business, and health. The report indicated that MUP had avoided over 400 hospital admissions and helped reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths in Scotland, limited evidence suggested that it is effective in reducing consumption among those with dependence on alcohol.
Retailers have broadly supported the 50p minimum unit pricing, but they believe the latest increase could burden struggling local businesses. The Scottish government’s opposition, the Scottish Conservative, called the move disproportionate and argued that it would penalize responsible drinkers at a time of economic crisis. Nonetheless, doctors support the increase, believing that the 50p per unit rate has decreased over the past six years. The increase to 65p will save more lives and avert hundreds of hospitalizations annually, they claim.
Campaigners and Scottish Labour have called for a public health levy on alcohol sales. The proceeds of the minimum unit pricing should fund agencies that tackle health and societal issues related to excessive drinking, rather than retailers, they say.
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