Southern drinkers most ‘high risk’ in England

People living in the South East of England are the most “high risk” drinkers in the country as new data reveals more than 1.6 million consume dangerous levels of alcohol every day.

The South East of England is the most “high risk” alcohol drinkers in the country

The research, conducted by charity Alcohol Concern, showed the region has at least 1.6 million “high or increasing risk” drinkers.

People who consume more than six to eight units of alcohol each day are defined as high risk while those who drink more than two to four units a day are described as increasing risk.

The charity’s alcohol harm map showed there are 1.2 million increasing risk drinkers in the South East, plus another 406,000 high risk drinkers.

“We need to ensure adequate alcohol care pathways are prioritised and appropriate services are put in place to ease this burden,” commented Jackie Ballard, Alcohol Concern chief executive.

“However, we also urgently need action to prevent alcohol misuse; the first and most effective of which is for the government to implement a minimum unit price, which ahs the potential to save the economy millions, and most importantly save lives.”

The South West of England was also reported as having significant numbers of high and increasing risk drinkers (1 million), followed by the West Midlands (973,000), Yorkshire and The Humber (956,000), East Midlands (838,000) and the North East (480,000).

Furthermore, the research showed a significantly greater number of alcohol related deaths were male (13,931) compared to women (7,495), with the highest number of deaths in the North East (3,501) followed by the South East (3,372).

London was the most expensive part of the country for alcohol related hospital admissions, costing the NHS £475.6 million last year.

Earlier this year, Diageo and Pernod Ricard called upon the industry to consider the role it must play in response to alcohol misuse.