Leading health campaign charity Alcohol Concern is calling for restrictions on the placement of alcohol within supermarkets.  The charity visited branches of all the major supermarkets in Cardiff during one day in December.  Across all the establishments they found alcohol in many sections of the shops including discounted alcohol at shop entrances and beside food aisles. Commenting on the findings Mark Leyshon from the charity said “It’s now common practice to sell wine next to ready-meals for example, pushing the idea that a relaxing meal should be accompanied by an alcoholic drink.”  Alcohol Concern wants the display of alcohol to be restricted to just one aisle.

Speaking in behalf of the retail outlets, Andrew Opie, food director for the British Retail Consortium responded by pointing out that this survey took place in December therefore the results were distorted because of “increased public demand” during the lead up to Christmas.  In addition, Mr Opie also commented that “There’s no evidence to link the way alcohol is sold currently to irresponsible drinking.”  He further added that “Retailers are focused on promoting a responsible attitude to alcohol. It doesn’t help to demonise it.”

The charity Alcohol Concern has released figures confirming that the amount of people in the UK  being admitted to hospital with alcohol related issues has doubled since 2003.  The figure has increased from 500,000 in 2002-2003 to 1.1 million in 2009-2010.  The charity is concerned that this could rise by a further 500,000 by 2015 and could cost the NHS £3.7 billion annually.

Alcohol Concern believe that employing specialist alcohol health workers within the NHS is a possible solution.  Speaking on behalf of the charity Don Shenker, chief executive at Alcohol Concern said “As problem drinking costs the country so dear, a modest investment in supporting problem drinkers will lead to a three-fold saving, surely a necessity in an economic downturn.”

The Home Office has responded by confirming that a ” bold new approach ” needs to taken to tackle the issue of alcohol misuse.  A spokesman for the Department of Health said “”That is why the newly published strategy for public health sets out plans to ring-fence public health spending, devolve power and budgets to local communities, and work across areas from behavioural science to education to improve public health.  They further added “We will also be publishing a new alcohol strategy to follow on from the Public Health White Paper in the summer.”

London Mayor, Boris Johnson in talks with UK government to implement a scheme in the capital that will involve people being made to pay for twice daily alcohol testing if they have been convicted of an alcohol related crime.  If they test positive then they will have go to court where a judge will decide on possible jail sentence.  It is hoped that this will address the growing issue with alcohol related crime in London which is the highest in the UK. 

The scheme has been successfully introduced in the US state of South Dakota where there has been a sharp decrease in drink related crime as a result.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing, Kit Malthouse is quoted as saying “The scheme could be an alternative to prison or be used in conjunction with a custodial sentence, and would not cost the taxpayer a penny because individuals would have to pay for the tests themselves.”

Don Shenker, Alcohol Concern’s Chief Executive has voiced his apprehension at the scheme and the long term benefits of it by saying  ”What we really need is to provide offenders with the opportunity to learn how to change their drinking behaviour through brief advice and support. Enforcing a period of sobriety will not necessarily change problem drinking in the long term. Local alcohol arrest referral schemes already operate in England, are very effective  and should be rolled out nationally.”

The charity Alcohol Concern has published a report outlining their concerns on the amount of alcohol that young people are consuming. 

The  report, named Right time, Right place includes details of how underage drinking is both a social and economic issue.  It is costing the NHS in England £19 million per year.  It also advises that childhood drinking is rising.  Statisitics show that alcohol is a factor in 5% in all deaths involving young people.

The chief executive of the charity, Don Shenker says “We are extremely concerned about the damage to children’s health”.  He also added that more training in dealing with young drinkers in hospital was vital - “Training medical staff as alcohol specialists is a cost-effective measure. The ‘do nothing option’ is far more costly.”

A spokeman from the Department of Health addressing the issue said ”We must educate them so they understand how bad it is for their health now and in the long term. And we must do more to stop shops selling alcohol to under 18s.”

The theme of Alcohol Awareness week this year is the affect alcohol has on children.  Alcohol Concern, a government backed charity has raised its concern on the use of televison and internet alcohol advertising.  The charity carried out recent research that showed that over 1 million children viewed alcohol advertisments during England’s world cup games.  They are now looking for a ban on alcohol adverts pre 9pm.

The charities chief executive Don Shenker said “It is simply unacceptable that vast numbers of children are so frequently exposed to alcohol advertising, leading to higher levels of drinking among young people and increasingly higher levels of harm”.  The drinks industry lobbying group, the Portman Group responded by saying “Alcohol marketing in the UK is strictly regulated to ensure it is responsible and aimed at adults.”