RCPE Press Release
3 May 2013
RCPE Applauds Legal Decision on Minimum Pricing
Commenting on the legal judgement on minimum pricing published this morning, Dr Neil Dewhurst, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said,
“Lord Doherty has made a landmark decision in which the implementation of minimum pricing has been deemed to be within the legislative competency of the Scottish Parliament and has also ruled that minimum pricing is compatible with EU law. In practical terms we believe this means that public health in Scotland is more important than commercial interests. Doctors throughout the country will applaud this decision and the leadership of the Scottish Government in passing legislation on minimum pricing for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Now that this hurdle has been cleared minimum pricing should be implemented without delay. Within the last few weeks alone an important Canadian study, where minimum pricing has been implemented at a provincial level, showed that a 10% increase in minimum price led to a 32% reduction in wholly alcohol-caused deaths and almost a 10% reduction in hospital admissions over an 8 year period [1]. It is now time to turn evidence of this nature into health gain in Scotland”.
ENDS
Contact: Graeme McAlister on 0131-247-3693 or 07733-263453
[1] Minimum Alcohol Prices and Outlet Densities in British Columbia, Canada: Estimated Impacts on Alcohol-Attributable Hospital Admissions, Stockwell T, Zhao J, Martin et al, American Journal of Public Health, April 2013.
