Warning after increase in booze deaths

Health officials voiced concern today about the ticking time-bomb of alcohol abuse after it emerged that the number of booze-related deaths in Norfolk had risen sharply.

Latest government statistics show that, since 1997, the number of deaths in the county in which alcohol has been a primary cause has increased from 50 a year to 81.

Norfolk had more alcohol-related deaths than Suffolk, where deaths have risen from 37 to 56, and Cambridgeshire, where they have increased from 32 to 48.

Some of the main causes include alcoholic psychoses, liver disease, chronic hepatitis, pancreatitis, alcohol poisoning and degeneration of the nervous system because of alcohol.

The alarming figures come amid evidence of rising alcohol sales and booze-related admissions to hospitals. Health officials say the relevant agencies must do far more to highlight the very real dangers posed by drinking too much.

Peter Brambleby, former head of Norfolk Primary Care Trust and a Norwich-based public health consultant, said: “I think, as the figures would show, this has become a huge problem, not just in terms of law and order but in general. It is an increasing public health issue, and the different agencies are going to have to pull together and look at how they can tackle this.

“All the figures are pointing to a rising tide, and unless something is done this will only continue.”

Dr Martin Phillips, a gastroenterologist and liver consultant at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said the lack of money for dedicated services in the county was contributing to the rise in alcohol-related illnesses and diseases.

He said: “People with liver disease are getting younger, and there are more cases each year, but we haven't got the funding to support them. I am seeing people as young as 27 with cirrhosis caused by excessive drinking. We can treat patients who come in, but there needs to be ongoing care.”

Last week, Ian Gilmore, head of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), said too much attention was being placed on young drinkers and not enough on the older ones.

Evening News 24