The 'alcopop generation' are paying the price for growing up with widely available access to alcohol
The ‘alcopop generation’ is dying needlessly from liver disease fuelled by alcohol and obesity, a report warns.
Experts say young Britons are paying the price of growing up with cheap drink available round the clock.
A
report by Public Health England today calls for tackling liver disease
to be made a national priority because ‘young lives are being needlessly
lost’.
There are nearly 11,000 deaths from liver disease a year in England, including victims in their 20s.
This rate has increased by 40 per cent in a little over a decade even though it is falling everywhere else in Europe.
The
report warns that in some areas of the country the death rate for men
is four times higher than others due to differing levels of alcohol and
obesity.
Blackpool and Manchester have the highest rates at 58.4 per 100,000 people and 54.9 per 100,000 respectively.
At the other end of the scale Central Bedfordshire has just 13 per 100,000 and Hertfordshire has 13.6 per 100,000.
Professor
Julia Verne, Lead for Liver Disease at Public Health England, said:
‘Liver disease is a public health priority because young lives are being
needlessly lost.
‘Liver disease is needlessly killing young people, people of working age.
‘We
must do more to raise awareness, nationally and locally, and this is
why it is so important for the public and health professionals to
understand their local picture.’
Emily
Robinson, Deputy Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern said: ‘The country
is in danger of losing the battle against liver disease, which goes
against the trend in much of the rest of Europe where many of our
neighbours are actually making progress.
‘It’s
a tragedy that we’re actually seeing cases of young people in their
twenties dying of alcoholic liver disease, when this can be prevented.
‘The
so called ‘alcopops generation’ have grown up in a society where
alcohol is available at almost anytime, anywhere, at incredibly cheap
prices and promoted nonstop.’
A report found there are nearly 11,000 deaths from liver disease a year in England, including victims in their 20s
The report shows that areas with the highest death rate have the most pubs for their population.
In Blackpool there is one pub to 72 people compared to one pub for 281 people in Hertfordshire.
Figures show that the number of people who died from liver disease in England rose from 7,841 in 2001 to 10,948 in 2012.
Andrew
Langford, Chief Executive of The British Liver Trust, said: ‘These
profiles, which were urgently needed, will begin to address the
devastating rise of poor liver health throughout the country and reduce
unnecessary deaths of increasingly younger people from liver disease.’
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