Liver disease specialists who wrote a report published in health journal The Lancet, have stated that measures including a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol urgently need to be implemented if England and Wales want to avoid the loss of up to 250,000 lives over the next 20 years.

Doctors have recommend that the UK follow in France’s footsteps by implementing a better system of alcohol regulation. Back in the 1960s France was experiencing high levels of liver disease deaths which were linked to the consumption of cheap alcohol. In order to combat this problem, strict marketing restrictions were put into place which successfully reduced drinking levels.

Following an example such as this, doctors have predicted that the UK could reduce current levels of death from liver disease (11 per 100,000) by a third.

However, if a nothing is done and alcohol-related deaths continue to rise, the next two decades could see up to 250,000 lives lost.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said: “The government has wasted no time in taking tough action to tackle problem drinking, including plans to stop supermarkets selling below-cost alcohol and working to introduce a tougher licensing regime.”

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