Covid pandemic has made Scotland's deadly drink problem worse. Action should be a priority – Scotsman comment

As a nation, we have long known that Scotland has a drink problem.

The Covid pandemic saw a significant increase in deaths caused by alcohol (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

New figures from Public Health Scotland – which found an average of 17 units of pure alcohol were sold to each and every adult, each and every week of 2020, putting the typical Scot above the Chief Medical Officer's low-risk guideline figure of 14 units – are a continuation of a bleak trend.

However, while these figures are perennially shocking, they can mask the true picture of some Scots drinking far, far in excess of safe limits and, sadly, into an early grave.

And that is a situation which Covid appears to have made much worse.

Despite a decrease in overall consumption, the number of deaths directly linked to alcohol – in which liver disease was the most common fatal factor – increased by nine per cent in 2020, compared to the average between 2017 and 2019, with men aged between 45 and 64 particularly at risk.

For some, the closure of pubs and restaurants meant they were drinking less, but for others the stress of the pandemic appears to have prompted them to drink more behind the closed doors of home.

There is a risk that the heaviest drinkers have deepened their addiction and that they will retain bad habits formed over the past two years.

Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, described the rise in the number of deaths as “devastating” and rightly said that measures to help people reduce how much they drink – such as higher minimum unit prices and restrictions on marketing – “must remain a priority as part of Scotland's recovery from Covid”.

But such practical steps should also be accompanied by an attempt to change our culture of drinking. Even the way we speak about alcohol can normalise heavy consumption as we “drown our sorrows” or look forward to “Prosecco o’clock” at the end of the working day.

And there are surely deeper societal problems at work – also demonstrated by Scotland’s high drug-death rate – that need to be addressed as we emerge from the misery and grief of Covid pandemic.

The threat posed by the virus itself may be subsiding, but Scotland must now look at the worst of its side-effects or risk allowing them to become entrenched.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.