Northern Ireland proceeds with Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing

Excessive alcohol consumption costs NI £900m per year Minimum Unit Price for alcohol would save 63 lives per year Policy would reduce hospital admissions by more than 2,400 - The Northern Ireland Executive has today (3 December 2014) announced it will proceed with an Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing policy, which could reduce drink-related hospital admissions by more than 2,400 a year, according to researchers from the University of Sheffield. A new report from the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group (SARG), commissioned by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Department for Social Development (DSD), shows that introducing a Minimum Unit Price (MUP) would reduce alcohol related deaths by 63 per year and save healthcare services £1.8 million within the first 12 months and £400 million over 20 years. The findings, from experts at the University's School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), whose research has been influential in providing evidence to inform policy decisions in the UK and beyond, also reveal the policy would lead to an estimated reduction in alcohol consumption by the overall population of 5.7 per cent, which equates to 46 units per drinker, per year. However, this effect is unevenly spread across the population. The policy would have negligible effects on alcohol expenditure amongst the majority of drinkers who consume at moderate levels - for example a 50p MUP would mean paying an extra £4.70 per year for moderate drinkers who are expected to reduce their consumption by 4.3 units annually which equates to approximately two pints of beer or half a bottle of wine less per year.