Issued on behalf of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP)
Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) welcomes the new alcohol guidelines issued today by the UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs), which includes guidance that men and women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week to reduce the risk of harms such as cancer and liver disease.
Eric Carlin, Director of SHAAP said:
“These new guidelines update the public with advice about how they can make informed choices around alcohol to reduce risks of harm to themselves and others. I am personally especially happy that the public might now become more aware of risks of developing cancer and that the industry’s claims for health benefits related to drinking have been dismissed by a systematic review of evidence. The new guidelines are pragmatic, reflecting people’s drinking behaviours and we welcome the public consultation that is now commencing to work out how the important information contained can best be disseminated.
“The case is made yet again for sustained action to reduce alcohol harms across the Scottish population, which causes twenty deaths every week. We need implementation of Minimum Unit Pricing, which is still shamefully being blocked by legal challenges by global producers, fronted by the Scotch Whisky Association.”
The new guidelines
The CMOs advise that to reduce risk to a low level, both men and women do not regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week. Previous guidelines recommended different amounts for men and women based on daily amounts that did not reflect drinking patterns.
The new guidelines bring the rest of the UK in line with Scotland on advice for pregnant women. Previously, Scotland was the only country in the UK to advise women that there is no ‘safe’ amount of alcohol that can be drunk during pregnancy so the best approach is not to drink at all. That advice is now reflected UK-wide.
The risks from drinking alcohol on a range of cancers start from any level of regular drinking and rise with the amount being drunk. This coincides with the publication of the latest findings from the Committee on Carcinogenicity (CoC), which found that drinking even a small amount of alcohol increases the risk of some cancers compared with people who do not drink at all.
About SHAAP
Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) provides the authoritative medical and clinical voice on the need to reduce the impact of alcohol related harm on the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland and the evidence-based approaches to achieve this. SHAAP was set up in 2006 by the Scottish Medical Royal Colleges through their Scottish Intercollegiate Group (SIGA). As a partnership, it is governed by an Executive Committee made up of members of the Royal Colleges, including the Royal College of Nursing.
For further information and comment contact:
Eric Carlin (Director) SHAAP: 0750 5081784 and shaap.director@rcpe.ac.uk
www.shaap.org.uk #MUPsaveslives
