Figures Show Drinking Takes Months Off Life

Drinkers in Plymouth are boozing themselves into an early grave, startling figures have revealed.

Men and women are wiping months off their lives through alcohol, say the statistics.

Data compiled by the Department of Health reveals a stark picture of the toll that drink is taking on the health of Plymouth residents.

Government experts say that on average men in the city are losing around nine months off their life expectancy, and women about four months. This is broadly in line with the national average.

In the Devon Primary Care Trust area, which covers the South Hams, the figures suggest boozing is shortening the average life of men by around eight months, and women by about three months.

Figures also show nearly 5,000 people were admitted to hospital in Plymouth for alcohol-related harm last year, equal to 1,785 admissions for every 100,000 people in the area. The national rate is 1,400 per 100,000. In Devon there were more than 12,000 hospital admissions for the same reason, a rate of 1,247 per 100,000 people.

The Government has promised tougher action against the alcohol industry unless it steps up efforts to encourage sensible drinking. Ministers are considering banning happy hours, forcing pubs and clubs to serve drinks in smaller glasses as well as larger ones, and stopping off-licences and other retailers from displaying alcohol at checkouts.

Devon and Cornwall's Chief Constable Stephen Otter has told MPs he wants to call time on boozing hotspots in towns and cities, and expressed concern that alcohol is as readily available as "a glass of cola".

He backed the idea of health warnings on bottles of booze, similar to those found on cigarettes, and raised concerns over the significant increase in booze-fuelled violent crime.

The promise of a government crackdown followed figures showing injury and illness caused by drinking cost the NHS pounds2.7billion a year - up by around pounds1billion since 2003.

Figures for the Plymouth Primary Care Trust area show 129 people aged under 18 were admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions in 2006-07. For Devon as a whole, the figure was 314.

In the same year, booze was blamed for the deaths of 118 people in the city and 379 throughout Devon. There were also more than 3,000 crimes recorded in Plymouth where alcohol was found to be the cause, a rate of 12 offences for every 1,000 people in the city compared to an average of 8.5 per thousand across the South West.

Nearly 2,300 booze-fuelled violent assaults were reported last year in the city, while in addition 40 sex crimes were recorded which were attributed to alcohol. It is estimated that around 17 per cent of people aged 16 and over in Plymouth go out binge-drinking.

Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport Alison Seabeck said: "It's a very serious concern."

Plymouth Evening Herald