Experts call for drinking culture intervention

Alcohol-related hospital admissions continue to rise, with an estimated 945,000 cases reported in England in 2008/09, according to statistics from the Department of Health.

This figure represents seven per cent of all hospital admissions during that period, with the number of alcohol-related admissions increasing by 11 per cent year-on-year.

In January, the Health Select Committee released a report suggesting recommendations to reduce the impact of alcohol consumption on the nation's health.

The report called for the introduction of minimum pricing and mandatory labelling among other measures.

Rachel Seabrook, research manager at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said: "We know that prices are very important to how much people drink and how much harm we suffer from alcohol.

"The government did put up the taxes on alcohol in 2008 and we did see a fall in consumption following that."

Alcohol misuse is estimated to cost the NHS around £2.7 billion annually.

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