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 With alcohol rated as one of Britain's biggest health problems and
binge-drinking revelers causing mayhem in city centers every
weekend, health chiefs said no level of drinking could be considered
safe.
People should now drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, the
equivalent of 6 pints of beer or 7 glasses of wine, to reduce the
risk of illness. Previous guidelines issued 20 years ago recommended
no more than 21 units for men and 14 for women.
"Drinking any level of alcohol regularly carries a health risk for
anyone, but if men and women limit their intake to no more than 14
units a week it keeps the risk of illness like cancer and liver
disease low," said Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for
England.
Concerns over binge drinking were fueled by images from New Year's
Eve celebrations showing drunken revelers semi-comatose on streets
or fighting with fellow partygoers and police.
One picture taken in Manchester which showed police arresting a
suspect with a man in the background lying prostrate in the road
reaching for a bottle of beer went viral on social media, with
suggestions it had similarities to paintings by the likes of William
Hogarth and Italian master Caravaggio.
In a country where drinking has long permeated social life, alcohol
was responsible for 1.2 million hospital admissions in 2012 with
8,416 alcohol-related deaths in 2013. It has been linked to
heightened risk of liver damage, cancer, stroke and heart
conditions.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who often entertains visiting leaders
in a local pub, considered the possibility of minimum alcohol prices
to cut down excessive drinking but the government rejected the plan
in 2013, saying there was not enough evidence it would be effective.
BOOZY BRITAIN?
The new government advice, which health chiefs said was based on the
latest firm scientific evidence, recommends people have several
drink-free days a week and do not consume the 14 weekly units in one
session.
It also says pregnant women should drink no alcohol at all, another
revision from the previous guidelines which suggested a small amount
was safe.
The British recommendations are similar to those suggested by U.S.
health officials in new advice issued on Thursday but stricter than
the guidance from many other European countries.
The U.S. government's 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans state
alcohol should be consumed in moderation -- up to one drink per day
for women and up to two per day for men.
In France and Italy, the guidance is for less than three drinks a
day, in Spain the recommendation is less than four, while Sweden
echoes the latest British limit of less than 14 drinks a week with
just nine for women.
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"NANNY STATE"
The Portman Group, which represents drinks manufacturers, said
Britain was breaking with international practice by suggesting the
same consumption for men as women.
"It also means that UK men are now being advised to drink
significantly less than their European counterparts," Portman Group
Chief Executive Henry Ashworth said.
However, critics said the guidance was an over-reaction and figures
showed alcohol consumption in Britain had been falling. Official
statistics last February revealed more than one in five adults said
they were teetotal and frequent drinking by the young had fallen
considerably.
Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of
Economic Affairs, accused the health chiefs of ignoring evidence
which showed moderate drinking reduced the risk of heart disease and
the overall risk of death.
"The change to the guidelines will turn hundreds of thousands of
people into 'hazardous drinkers' overnight thereby reviving the
moral panic about drinking in Britain and opening the door to yet
more nanny state interventions," Snowdon said.
"People deserve to get honest and accurate health advice from the
Chief Medical Officer, not scaremongering."
Others suggested people would ignore the advice anyway.
"We all know there is a big problem with excessive alcohol
consumption in this country, there's a problem with a binge-drinking
mentality," said Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UKIP party who
is often pictured in a pub with a pint of beer.
"But frankly if we choose to enjoy a few drinks four or five nights
a week after a hard day at work, whether it slightly shortens our
lives or not, so what," he told LBC radio.
(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Giles Elgood)
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