Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic - London

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BMA Board of Science
Pedestrian alcohol consumption is also associated with fatalities and injuries. In Great Britain,
72 per cent n
of pedestrians aged 16 and over killed between 10pm and 4am in 2005 were found
to have a BAC in excess of 80mg/100ml. 97
Research conducted by the Scottish Office Central
Research Unit found that 31 per cent of all pedestrian casualties attending A&E departments in
five large Scottish hospitals in 1996/97 had consumed alcohol, of which 87 per cent were male. 100
In Northern Ireland, 12 per cent of fatal and serious pedestrian injuries in 2005 were due to
pedestrian consumption of alcohol or drugs. 98
The cost of alcohol misuse and alcohol-related harm
The cost of alcohol misuse in the UK is substantial and can be divided into four broad categories:
healthcare service costs – including costs to primary care services and hospital services (A&E,
medical and surgical inpatient services, paediatric services, psychiatric services, and outpatient
departments) of alcohol-related morbidity and mortality
cost of alcohol-related crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour – including costs to the criminal
justice system, costs to services (eg social work services), costs of drink-driving, and the human
cost of alcohol-related harm (eg domestic abuse, assault)
loss of productivity and profitability in the workplace – including costs to the economy from
alcohol-related deaths and alcohol-related lost working days
impact on family and social networks – including human and emotional costs such as
breakdown of marital and family relationships, poverty, loss of employment, domestic and child
abuse, homelessness and other drug use.
Box 4 summarises various estimates of the costs of alcohol-related harm in the UK.
n As blood alcohol levels were only available for 45 per cent of all pedestrian fatalities, these figures may overestimate the
proportion of fatalities with a BAC in excess of 80mg/100ml.
Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic