Alcohol Misuse
Our framework for action document contains a package of more than 40 measures that seek to reduce consumption of alcohol; support families and communities; encourage more positive attitudes and positive choices; and improve treatment and support services. Together with minimum unit pricing and other regulatory measures on, for example, the irresponsible promotion of alcohol, this wider package will help to create the cultural shift that is required to change our relationship with alcohol. Considerable progress has been made on implementing key aspects of the alcohol framework, including a record investment of more than £237 million since 2008 in tackling alcohol misuse; the delivery of more than 366,000 alcohol brief interventions by NHS Scotland; the establishment of 30 alcohol and drug partnerships; the development of an implementation plan to deliver the recommendations of the quality alcohol treatment and support report; the commencement of the Alcohol etc (Scotland) Act 2010; and the passing of the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 in May 2012.
Given that alcohol is killing around 20 people a week in Scotland, which is still a higher rate than that in England and Wales, and given that minimum unit pricing is delayed in the courts, will the cabinet secretary come forward with meaningful action to tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland?
It is a bit rich for anyone from the Labour Party, with its constant opposition to minimum unit pricing, to demand action now. We have already implemented a 40-point action plan and, as the NHS Health Scotland report that was issued yesterday indicated, measures such as the ending of multiple unit sales are already having a positive impact in reducing alcohol sales in Scotland.
As the cabinet secretary is aware, minimum unit pricing alone will not tackle Scotland’s problem with alcohol. He will also be aware that Dr Richard Simpson is leading proposals for an alcohol (public health and criminal justice) (Scotland) bill. Will the cabinet secretary back that bill in principle and introduce Labour’s proposals so that we can take action and tackle this problem now?
We have never claimed that minimum unit pricing is a single silver bullet, but it is a prerequisite to breaking the back of the problem of alcohol misuse in Scotland. I draw Rhoda Grant’s attention to what are now four reports that have been produced by Professor Tim Stockwell, the global expert on this matter, which demonstrate beyond any doubt—let alone any reasonable doubt—that, unless we affect the price of alcohol, we will not be able to beat this problem in Scotland. That is why minimum unit pricing is so essential and why, despite Labour’s opposition, the Government was determined to deliver it.
Is the cabinet secretary aware of any other European Union member states that are set to follow Scotland’s example and introduce minimum unit pricing? If so, could that be because this policy has the support of every health organisation in Scotland and each of the chief medical officers in these islands?
The Irish and Estonian Governments have adopted a policy on minimum unit pricing that is similar to the one adopted by the Scottish Government, and I know of other Governments that are giving similar consideration to following our example. Having spoken to the World Health Organization at a recent conference in Tallinn in Estonia, I can tell the member that we have its whole-hearted support in pursuing minimum unit pricing. There is no doubt that the almost unanimous view not just among health professionals in Scotland but, increasingly, among Governments and health professionals in Europe is that minimum unit pricing is the right policy for pursuing our objective of substantially reducing the harm that is caused by alcohol abuse.
That ends topical questions.
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