Minimum alcohol price would save lives says chief medic

Published on Tuesday 23 June 2009 10:16

SCOTLAND's chief medical officer has told a conference in Edinburgh that he believes a minimum price for alcohol would help save lives.

Dr Harry Burns told the summit of politicians, retailers and health professionals that he was once "agnostic" but now endorsed the Scottish Government plan.

"It's a no-brainer – one of the ways in which we can control the amount of alcohol being consumed is to tackle price," he said.

"If we do that, people who in the course of the next year are going to die are going to be drawn back from the brink."

A minimum drink price was one of the main elements of Government proposals announced earlier this year to tackle an alcohol problem estimated to cost Scotland more than 2.2 billion a year.

And Dr Burns used "shock tactics" at the summit in Edinburgh yesterday, in an attempt to hammer home health warnings about alcohol-related deaths by illustrating his speech with stark images of diseased organs.