Scotland curbs deaths from alcoholism by raising the prices of cheap drinks: Will Europe follow suit?

When Scots walked into their supermarket at the end of September, the cheapest bottle of whiskey they could find cost £14 (€16.80). The next day, it cost 18.20 pounds (21.84 euros).

First applied at 0.50 pounds (0.60 euros) per unit in 2018, lawmakers agreed in April to raise the floor to 0.65 pounds (0.78 euros) this fall to match inflation.

It also marked an important moment in a country that continues to fight against health consequences of excessive consumption of Alcohol, the most dangerous legal drug on the market.

The psychiatrist Peter Ricewho worked in a specialist alcohol clinic in rural Scotland, observed a worrying trend around the year 2000. Rates of fatal liver disease were rising at the same time that older men with alcohol problems increasingly switched from beer or the whiskey to the very strong and cheap cider they drank at home.

“You could see the change in trend,” explains Rice to ‘Euronews Health‘. Along with other doctors and public health advocates, Rice began doing campaign to raise the minimum price of the cheapest alcohol. Their target was not bars or restaurants, which already have a profit margin, but the cheapest alcohol in supermarkets.

It took more than a decade to pass the law called Minimum unit pricing for alcohol (MUP), but today it is the most comprehensive alcohol pricing policy in Europe, and it appears to be bearing fruit despite the seriousness of the problem.

According to the analysis of Public Health Scotland (PHS) and the University of Glasgowalcohol-related deaths have been reduced by 13.4% (156 deaths per year) and alcohol-related hospitalizations by 4.1% (400 admissions per year) until the end of 2020.

Most deaths avoided were related to liver diseases and were concentrated in the poorest neighborhoods of Scotland. However, the policy does not appear to have contributed to reducing deaths from alcohol poisoning. And last year, 1,277 people died from alcohol-specific causes, the highest level since 2008.

“What we learned from all of this was that it was providing benefits to people who were at very high risk of death (…) but on its own, as a policy, it is not enough to reverse the trajectory we are on,” he declared to ‘Euronews‘Health the doctor Tara Shivajia consultant to the Scottish Public Health system specializing in alcohol and drugs.

European alcohol pricing policies

Scottish politics has inspired others nearby, such as Welsh and Irelandwhich introduced the MUP law for alcohol in 2022. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Ministry of Health said earlier this month that it is moving forward with its own MUP policy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) wants other countries to also consider it, but it has not been on the agenda of the majority. Many countries already heavily tax alcohol and take other measures to address retail costs. For example, England prohibits supermarkets from selling alcohol below cost price, a strategy sometimes used to attract people.

Setting minimum prices goes even further

“For alcoholic beverages that have a very low price, that are very cheap, even a high tax does not increase the price to the point of discouraging consumers,” he explains to ‘Euronews Health‘ Franco Sassidirector of Center for Health Economics and Policy Innovation from Imperial College London.

And while many people are put off by rising prices, those suffering from alcohol dependence may end up prioritizing drinking over household needs.

Shivaji says that while it is important to keep an eye on the “unintended consequences” of these types of policies, in Scotland there has been no increase in black market or cross-border liquor sales, and people have not switched from alcohol to illegal drugs as a result of the MUP law.

Other strategies to reduce harmful alcohol consumption

In addition to price fixing, Sassi advocated for health warning labeling on beer, wine and spirits, which will be mandatory in Ireland from 2026but which was strongly opposed by the alcohol industry in the EU.

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For his part, Shivaji stated that treatments and other treatments should also be made available to people. resources to help them stop drinking. But they acknowledged that it is an uphill battle to impose any type of restrictions on alcohol.

For his part, Rice said that addressing the issue of affordability, whether through taxes or minimum prices, is essential to significantly reduce costs. health risks of alcohol.

“You can do everything else, educate the public, etc.,” Rice said. But If you walk into a store and see that the beer is 30% off, It is very likely that everything else will go to waste. “That’s why I think price controls allow other things to have a greater effect.”