Immediate action needed to tackle Scotland’s alcohol issues
The Scottish Government has been urged to promptly take action in order to deal with Scotland’s alcohol problem.
In a letter addressed to the Health Secretary; Neil Gray the Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems(SHAAP) and Alcohol Focus Scotland have criticised the government for its lack of enthusiasm in addressing the fast rising number of alcohol related deaths in Scotland.
The 2024 Report from Audit Scotland on alcohol and drug services urged the government to “Work with key stakeholders to identify and agree on actions to increase focus and funding for tackling alcohol related harm, while continuing to tackle drug-related harm”.
Members of these alcohol and drugs related organisations are pleading the government to be clear on how it will address the issues identified by the auditor general.
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, the Chairman of SHAAP told STV News that “Scotland continues to face an unacceptable level of alcohol-related harm, with 1,277 people losing their lives to alcohol in 2023.
Alcohol Harm was declared to be a public health emergency in 2021 and even though some measures have been put into place such as the minimum unit pricing in September, Neil gray agreed that “there has not been the ambition to address the scale of the problem.
