Leading charity Alcohol Focus Scotland has welcomed the move by Scottish parliament this week to increase the minimum unit pricing (MUP) of alcohol, saying it will save lives and reduce demand on Scotland’s NHS.

MSPs voted yesterday afternoon to extend the MUP legislation as part of wider public health efforts to tackle alcohol related harms.

The minimum unit price increase from 50p to 65p is set to take effect from the 30th of September.

The vote was part of the ‘sunset clause’ to ensure a minimum price increase to keep pace with inflation.

The Scottish government says the rise to 65p was selected with the hopes of enhancing the positive effects of the policy.

Research led by Public Health Scotland and the University of Glasgow estimated that MUP had reduced alcohol-attributable deaths by 13.4% – 156 a year – and was likely to have reduced hospital admissions wholly attributable to alcohol by 4.1% up to the end of 2020.

Following the vote, Drug and Alcohol Policy Minister Christina McKelvie said:

“I’m pleased that parliament has agreed to continue MUP legislation and to raise the level it is set at.

“Research commended by internationally-renowned public health experts estimated that our world-leading policy has saved hundreds of lives, likely averted hundreds of alcohol-attributable hospital admissions and contributed to reducing health inequalities.

“Despite this progress, deaths caused specifically by alcohol rose last year – and my sympathy goes out to all those who have lost a loved one.

“However, as a letter to The Lancet by public health experts makes clear, it is likely that without MUP there would have been an even greater number of alcohol-specific deaths.

“As we have made clear, the policy aims to reduce alcohol-related harm by reducing consumption at population level, with a particular focus on targeting people who drink at hazardous and harmful levels.

“We believe the proposals strike a reasonable balance between public health benefits and any effects on the alcoholic drinks market and impact on consumers. Evidence suggests there has not been a significant impact on business and industry as a whole but we will continue to monitor this.”

The news has been welcomed by charity Alcohol Focus Scotland who campaigned for the increase, with CEO Alison Douglas saying that parliament has put people’s health before big alcohol companies.

In 2022, 1,276 people died from alcohol-related causes in Scotland, two thirds of which were men.

However, she added that MUP remains only part of the answer to alcohol-related harms across Scotland:

“Well done Holyrood. You have chosen to stand up for peoples’ right to health despite the best efforts of Big Alcohol once again to derail this policy. Uprating of the minimum unit price to 65p per unit will save hundreds of lives and reduce demand on our NHS.

“This will improve the lives not just of people who drink but those around them, whose health and wellbeing can be affected.

“Crucially it will reduce the likelihood that future generations will develop alcohol problems.

“But there is so much more to do. Now we must address how alcohol is marketed as a glamorous, fun product, while giving us limited information which we need to make healthy choices.”

As part of a review of the level of minimum unit price, the Scottish government commissioned the University of Sheffield Alcohol Research Group, who are experts in this field, to undertake new modelling.

Scottish government-commissioned research indicates raising MUP from 50p to 65p could avert an additional 60 deaths and 774 fewer hospital admissions in the first year.

Read more: Analysis: drugs and alcohol in Scottish health survey; Oversight group for government drug action; Safe consumption rooms key for drug harms; Employment support needed for Scotland’s carers; Inside Scotland's widening health inequalities

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