Responding to today’s decision by the UK Supreme Court which will see the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 finally enacted, Prof Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said:

“The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is delighted that the Supreme Court has today cleared the way for Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) of alcohol to begin in Scotland in the coming months.

“As part of a package of measures MUP now has the potential to reduce the number of alcohol related deaths and to lessen alcohol related harm in Scotland which impacts on not only individuals but also their families and communities.

“This College, along with others, established Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) in 2006 due to concerns from across the medical profession about the growing number of hospitalisations and deaths due to alcohol consumption in Scotland. SHAAP has been a long standing advocate for MUP, and in particular I would like to thank the current Director Dr Eric Carlin, Chair Dr Peter Rice, and the previous Director, the late Dr Evelyn Gillan for their unyielding work to ensure MUP was enacted.

“We now look forward to MUP becoming a reality in Scotland and across other parts of the United Kingdom.”

Notes: 
  1. Based at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) provides the authoritative medical and clinical voice on the need to reduce the impact of alcohol related harm on the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland and the evidence-based approaches to achieve this.

Lisa Rooke

Contact: Lisa Rooke l.rooke@rcpe.ac.uk 0131 247 3688