Scotland: Improved Health since Alcohol Minimum Unit Price
A year since the introduction of minimum unit price on alcohol, Scotland is showing promising effects in improvements of health. The National reports health outcomes are improving and a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness will be released in June.
Scotland finally introduced the minimum unit price of 50p on alcohol in 2018 – after heavy opposition and aggressive lobbying and litigation of the alcohol industry. The government aims to keep this price under review and increase it if necessary in the coming years.
Comprehensive alcohol policy approach
Scotland’s alcohol control policy encompasses reducing the availability, attractiveness and affordability of alcohol. The policy aims to curb the health, social, and economic harm from alcohol in the country. One of the country’s newest strategies in alcohol control is the minimum unit price.
Public Health Minister Joe Fitzpatrick says the first meaningful analysis of sales will be conducted in June. This will provide information on the short-term effect on the volume of units sold. After 5 years, an overarching expert evaluation of the impacts of minimum pricing will be done.
In the year before we introduced minimum unit pricing, 22 deaths every week were attributed to alcohol alone.
Each and every one of those was preventable and as a government we are committed to trying to put an end to this needless loss of life,” said Joe Fitzpatrick, the Public Health Minister of Scotland, as per The National.
This minimum unit pricing policy was hard won and is constantly threatened by Big Alcohol. As minister Fitzpatrick says there is a sustained campaign against minimum pricing from the manufacturers of previously very cheap, high-strength cider since the introduction of this policy. The Scotch Whiskey Association who lost their case against the minimum unit price in Scottish courts had applied to appeal in the UK Supreme Court against minimum pricing for alcohol in Scotland – but ultimately lost in their tour through Scottish, British and European courts.
Despite the challenges by Big Alcohol, the government has remained strong in their commitment to create a healthier and fairer Scotland through effective alcohol control policy.
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