review of drinking guidelines in the uk

THE 2016 UK CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICERS’

DRINKING GUIDELINES

Dr Peter Rice, Chair, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems.

Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, NHS Tayside

Alcohol Policy Advisor, Royal College of Psychiatrists.

HISTORY OF UK GUIDELINES (10mls = 8g = 1 unit)

1984 Health Education Council “safe” 180/90mls per wk

“Too much” 560/350mls

1986 Royal Colleges 210/140mls

1995 UK Government 20-40 mls daily

Royal Colleges guidance unchanged

2012 UK Parliament Science Committee called for review

2016 UK Chief Medical Officers recommendations.

KEY BACKGROUND PAPERS

Search CMO Alcohol Guidelines ; Supporting evidence

Lifetime mortality risk by pattern and gender

Relative risk (Canada) and Absolute risk (Australian) modelling

Some risk relationships...

ISCHAEMIC HEART DISEASE

MORTALITY TRENDS IN SCOTLAND - MEN

Shipton GCPH 2014

MORTALITY TRENDS IN SCOTLAND - WOMEN

Shipton GCPH 2014

PROTECTIVE EFFECTS Any effect confined to older age groups Selection bias (example, in older age drinkers may be wealthier than non-drinkers) UK Mortality from Ischaemic Heart Disease is falling Peak of protective effects are at very low level of consumption.

A MORE COMPLEX MESSAGE

“UNITS” and THE PUBLIC

Sir David Spiegelhalter, Professor of Public Risk Understanding, University of Cambridge His Blog and his Graph

“These guidelines define

‘low-risk’ drinking as giving

you less than a 1% chance

of dying from an alcohol-

related condition. So

should we feel OK about

risks of this level? An hour

of TV watching a day, or a

bacon sandwich a couple

of times a week, is more

dangerous to your long-

term health. In contrast, an

average driver faces much

less than this lifetime risk

from a car accident. It all

seems to come down to

what pleasure you get from

moderate drinking.”

Daily Telegraph

WHY IS THERE EQUALISATION OF GUIDANCE FOR

MEN AND WOMEN ?

This presentation was produced for a meeting organized within Joint Action on Reducing Alcohol Related Harm (RARHA) which has received funding from the European Union, in the framework of the

Health Programme (2008-2013).

The content of this presentation represents the views of the author/s and it is their sole responsibility; it can in no way be taken

to reflect the views of the European Commission or of the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Executive Agency do not accept responsibility for any use that

may be made of the information it contains.