Doctors call for ban on drink ads to tackle alcohol abuse

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 21:48

ALCOHOL advertising should be banned as part of efforts to tackle problem drinking, doctors said yesterday.

The British Medical Association (BMA) conference in Liverpool heard that alcohol misuse affected people of all ages and social groups and extra efforts were needed to tackle the problem.

The conference also heard calls for England to follow Scotland with plans to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol to combat cut-price drinks.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has given a lukewarm response to English chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson's idea for a 50p unit price, saying he wants to protect the "sensible majority of moderate drinkers".

But doctors backed Sir Liam yesterday, saying more needs to be done to tackle the UK's drinking culture.

The conference heard that one in four adults is drinking at levels that are hazardous to health and 36,000 children aged 11-15 get drunk each week.

The Scottish Government is considering a minimum price per unit of alcohol, likely to be between 40p and 50p.

Dr Chandra Mohan, from London, who proposed the motion, said research showed minimum pricing could cut hospital admissions by 100,000 every year in England.