Supporting
healthy drinking
Fiona Bruce MP,
Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm, hosted a panel
discussion in Parliament on how to implement the new Chief Medical Officers’
Alcohol Guidelines.
The new
guidelines, which were published in January, advise that both men and women are
safest not to drink regularly more than 14 units a week. They also state that
the risk of developing a range of illnesses (including cancers of the mouth,
throat and breast) increases with any amount you drink on a regular basis.
The guidelines
also advise that if you wish to cut down the amount you are drinking, a good
way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days each week.
Fiona Bruce MP
introduced three expert speakers, two of whom were involved on the panel which
advised the Chief Medical Officers on the guidelines. Professor Sir Ian Gilmore
spoke about how health professionals could be better trained to take full
alcohol histories with patients. Professor Theresa Marteau and Professor Marcus
Munafo talked about how small things, like the shape of the glass you drink
from, can drastically change the amount you drink. They also spoke about the
importance of public education as an important first step.
Fiona Bruce MP said: “The
new Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines provide an important opportunity to
advise the public on the dangers of drinking alcohol. It is vital that the
Government now makes sure that the new guidelines are properly understood so
that the public can make their own informed choices about how much they drink.”
Fiona Bruce MP continued: “The
expert panel brought some fascinating data about how we can change our everyday
behaviour. If used correctly, this could help change some of the dangerous
drinking patterns which lead to huge cost to the NHS and, more importantly, to
families and society.”
