Reducing Harm from Alcohol

We are drinking too much alcohol and it's making us ill. Alcohol is the most common cause of death in men younger than 54 and the rest of us are 20% more likely to die from drinking alcohol than anything else. Alcohol is known to be a significant factor in causing over sixty diseases, including cancers of the breast, liver, stomach, mouth and throat, as well as heart disease, high blood pressure, liver disease and mental health problems.

The government introduced new drinking guidelines in January 2016 as summarised below: 

Alcohol Harm Information Risk Level       

Lower risk           Regularly drinking no more than 14 units per week, spread over at least 3 days

Increasing risk      Women -  Regularly drinking 15-34 units per week

                     Men -    Regularly drinking 15-49 units per week

Higher risk          Women-   Drinking more than 35 units per week (or more than 6 units a day) on a regular basis.

                     Men -    Drinking more than 50 units per week (or more than 8 units a day) on a regular basis.  

We need to take a fresh look at how we identify and treat alcohol problems and we're working on projects that help healthcare staff understand their patients' alcohol risks so that they can improve health and prevent premature death.

Programme partners

Public Health England

Local Authority Public Health teams

University of Southampton

University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Lundbeck

NHS Innovations South East

The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design

Soberistas

Resources

Centre for Implementation Science (CIS)

CIS interactive Wessex alcohol data dashboard

Lundbeck: Alcohol Dependence

PHE Local Alcohol Profiles for England

PHE - National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System

Soberistas    

Alcohol Learning Centre

Alcoholics Anonymous

NHS Change 4 Life: Cutting Down on Alcohol

Health risks from alcohol: new guidelines 

The third national emergency department survey of alcohol identification and intervention activity. http://alcoholresearchuk.org/downloads/finalReports/FinalReport_0135.pdf