Official figures published on Tuesday revealed that alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland have reached a 14-year high. This comes despite the government’s implementation of a minimum unit price (MUP) policy, which aimed to reduce alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations. The government altered a press release stating that evidence showed the effectiveness of the MUP policy in reducing deaths and hospitalizations, changing the wording to say the benefits were “estimated.” A researcher critical of the MUP policy argues that population-level policies rarely work.
In 2022, the number of alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland rose to 1,276, the highest level since 2008. The trend has generally been increasing over the past decade, with 2019 being the only exception. The number of male deaths remained the same as the previous year, while female deaths increased by 31. Taking into account population size and age, the alcohol-specific age-standardized mortality rate last year was 22.9 per 100,000 people, the highest level since 2009.
The death toll increased despite the government’s hope that the MUP policy, which sets a minimum price per unit of alcohol, would reverse the trend. Implemented since May 2018, the policy aimed to make alcohol less affordable. However, alcohol-specific deaths only had a one-off drop in 2019 before returning to the previous upward trajectory. Christopher Snowdon, a researcher at the Institute of Economic Affairs, criticized population-level policies like minimum pricing, stating that they rarely work. He emphasized the need to focus on helping individuals with alcohol dependency through psychological support.
Scotland’s alcohol minister, Elena Whitham, defended the MUP policy, stating that she believes the number of deaths would have been higher without it. She referred to an evaluation from Public Health Scotland that estimated hundreds of lives saved due to minimum unit pricing. Laura Mahon from Alcohol Focus Scotland also supported the policy, calling for an increase in the minimum price. However, critics pointed out that the claim of effectiveness was based on only one study out of 40, and the government later amended its press release to reflect that the benefits were estimated rather than established.
The Public Health Scotland report, which the alcohol minister referred to, incorporated feedback from civil servants before its publication. Draft versions of the report and email exchanges between Public Health Scotland and the government showed that the government provided feedback on “factual correction and policy usefulness.” Some of the suggestions from civil servants were included in the final version of the report. Despite this, Public Health Scotland maintains that overall evidence supports the positive impact of minimum unit pricing on health outcomes and there is no clear evidence of substantial negative impacts on the alcoholic drinks industry or social harms at the population level.
The alcohol minister also mentioned a shelved plan to ban alcohol advertisements, stating that its implementation cannot be ruled out. The government will evaluate responses and make a decision based on the findings, considering it from a public health perspective.