College News***EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST BEFORE 00:01HRS 26 MARCH 2009*** RCPE Press Release RCPE COMMENT ON AUDIT SCOTLAND REPORT ON ALCOHOL AND DRUG SERVICES: Alcohol funding needs to be increased and should no longer be considered less important than drug fundingProf Sir Neil Douglas, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said, “This audit is to be welcomed, particularly as it stresses the need to ensure equal access to alcohol services, based on best evidence, throughout Scotland, however it has highlighted once again the continuing disparity in funding between alcohol and drug services in Scotland. Over three times as many people die from alcohol-related problems in Scotland, as die from drug-related problems yet the government spends three times as much on drug services than on alcohol services. While the recent increase in funding for alcohol services announced by the Scottish Government is to be welcomed, alcohol funding still lags behind funding for drug-related services and this should not continue if we wish to reduce the high rate of alcohol-related deaths in Scotland. “Perhaps the single-most important, and cost-effective, alcohol policy measure which could be implemented at this time would be the introduction of minimum pricing for a unit of alcohol. This policy measure is based on strong evidence and an independent analysis of its likely impact has recently concluded that this could have the twin effect of reducing alcohol consumption and increasing alcohol industry revenue. As such, the implementation of minimum pricing should not be feared by industry and retailers and should be supported by all with an interest in reducing the harm caused by excessive alcohol consumption in Scotland. “There is also strong evidence to support the use of brief interventions in order to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. A national SIGN clinical guideline first recommended the provision of such services throughout Scotland in 2003 and local implementation of this recommendation has been variable. It is vital that such evidence-based recommendations are implemented in clinical practice”. ENDS Contact Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07808-939395 Notes to Editors There were 1399 alcohol-related deaths in Scotland and 455 drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2007. In 2007/08 the public sector spent £84 million specifically on drug services, £30 million specifically on alcohol services and £59 million on combined drug and alcohol services. The Scottish Government has allocated an additional £85.3 million for alcohol misuse over the 3 years from 2008/09 to 2010/11; most of this money will go to NHS Boards (£24.8 million in 2008/09). Source: Drug and Alcohol Services in Scotland, Audit Scotland, March 2009 PMETB Quality Framework outcomes workshopsThe Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) launched its Quality Framework (QF) in September 2007. Now, eighteen months later, the five elements of the QF are all producing outcomes that together enable the Board to assure the quality of postgraduate medical education and training and that PMETB would like to share with its stakeholders who have responsibility for quality management (QM) and quality control (QC). PMETB invites you to participate in one of the following workshops, to be held during May 2009:
***EMBARGO: NOT FOR BROADCAST OR PUBLICATION BEFORE 00:01hrs 12 MARCH 2009*** RCPE Press Release ALCOHOL: MINIMUM PRICING COULD DECREASE CONSUMPTION, WHILST INCREASING INDUSTRY REVENUE BY 68%A leading Scottish health economist will today (12 March 2009) present new data which will show that the alcohol industry in Scotland could experience a significant increase in revenue even if the Scottish Government’s proposals to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol in Scotland resulted in a 30% reduction in consumption of low priced alcohol products. Prof Anne Ludbrook, of the Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, will be speaking at a major conference convened by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Faculty of Public Health examining evidence-based public health measures in the areas of alcohol, smoking and diet [1] Minimum pricing for a unit of alcohol has proven to be one of the most controversial measures contained within the Scottish Government’s recent proposals to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. In particular, the alcohol industry and retailers’ representative bodies have claimed that the introduction of minimum pricing would adversely affect their sales. Prof Ludbrook has analysed the impact of introducing a minimum price per unit of alcohol sold in Scotland using a hypothetical example. If a minimum price of 30p per unit of alcohol was introduced (equivalent to a minimum price of 68p per pint for beer), the alcohol industry could actually experience a 68% increase in revenue whilst selling 30% less of heavily discounted products (reduced alcohol consumption being the aim of this policy measure). How does this work? Analysis of price components
Effect on revenue/sales
Prof Anne Ludbrook, Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, said, “The introduction of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol has recently been proposed by the Scottish Government as a means of reducing alcohol consumption and, in turn, alcohol-related harm. It is a controversial measure which has, in particular, been contested by the alcohol industry and retailers who believe that this would result in a decrease in revenue for them. “There is strong evidence that higher prices would reduce alcohol consumption. Minimum pricing is one means of raising prices and my analysis has shown that this could be more beneficial to the industry than the traditional approach of increasing duty. If a minimum price of 30p per unit was introduced, then a product which is currently heavily discounted might experience up to a 30% decrease in sales. However, industry revenue could actually increase by as much as 68% because most of the price increase is retained by the industry. Duty per pint is fixed and VAT takes only 15% of the price increase. . Therefore, minimum pricing could achieve a public health gain due to reduced consumption and the decrease in profits forecast by industry and retailers would not materialise. This would be a win-win situation” Prof Harry Campbell, from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (and Professor of Public Health, University of Edinburgh), said, “In recent years Scotland has experienced significant public health problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and poor diet. In order to ensure that future public health policy is informed by best scientific evidence, we have convened this event to examine what measures are likely to be most successful in tackling Scotland’s appalling health record. We will look at examples of ways in which evidence can be used to inform public health policy and in some cases to allay misperceptions regarding the impact of such policy measures.” Contact: Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07808-939395 ENDS [1] ‘Health Behaviour Change: do we know what works and is this being implemented by Scotland?’ A symposium organised jointly between the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Faculty of Public Health in association with the Chief Scientist’s Office and the Medical Research Council, 9.00am – 4.45pm, 12 March 2009, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 9 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ. [2] Journalists wishing to attend the conference or to interview Prof Ludbrook or Prof Campbell should contact Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07808-939395 Graeme McAlister
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