Sir, – The recent reports of the Health Research Board ("177,000 dependent drinkers in Ireland", June 24th) and of the World Health Organisation demonstrate what many of your readers know – we have a genuine health crisis in Ireland due to our excessive and dangerous alcohol consumption. The health services see the dreadful health and human toll of alcohol daily.
Over three-quarters of alcohol in the HRB study was reported consumed in binge drinking sessions, and 20 per cent reported binge drinking in the previous week.
Ireland has been shown to be a world leader in binge drinking of cheap alcohol. In Ireland, we drink too much alcohol, in patterns that are unhealthy and with little regard to consequence.
Increasingly we drink cheap, high-potency alcohol in locations other than the pub.
A huge proportion of our resource-strapped health, social welfare, Garda and justice services are taken up managing the consequences of this excessive alcohol consumption.
There is a need for urgent, focused, and effective action, despite any pleading by the alcohol industry and supermarkets.
The solutions are well recognised. There is substantial international evidence that increasing the cost and reducing the availability of alcohol are effective in reducing dangerous alcohol consumption and the harms associated with alcohol.
Let us as a country take this action and introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol and restrict the off-sales outlets selling alcohol.
It is worth remembering the resistance that was presented in the face of the smoking ban. No doubt the alcohol industry will try to resist change, but I suggest that we need to act urgently nonetheless.
While we debate other strategies to reduce harm from alcohol, let us urgently as a nation turn off the tap of cheap alcohol, which these recent studies have demonstrated is damaging some of the most vulnerable in our society. – Yours, etc,
Prof FRANK MURRAY,
Alcohol Policy Group,
Royal College
of Physicians of Ireland,
Frederick House,
South Frederick Street,
Dublin 2.