Dudley Strategy for Tackling Health Inequalities 2010-15

7.4 ALCOHOL HARM REDUCTIONThere are numerous measures that highlight the relationship between alcoholconsumption and health inequalities in Dudley. Some of these differences relate togeographic areas, whilst others relate to differences in population groups. There arecorrelations between local measures of social deprivation and measures of alcoholrelatedburden across the area for:- The contribution of alcohol to life expectancy- Mortality from causes directly related to alcohol- Hospital episodes attributable to alcohol- The rate of crimes estimated to be attributable to alcoholThese relationships suggest that the more deprived areas of the borough have adisproportionately high burden on the NHS, have a disproportionately high level ofalcohol related mortality and have a disproportionate contribution to reduced lifeexpectancy due to alcohol.The contribution of alcohol to life expectancyThe enjoyment of alcohol has been part of our culture for thousands of years. It ispart of the way we enjoy our leisure time and celebrations with friends and family.There is some evidence that small quantities of alcohol may have a beneficial effectand prevent against cardiovascular disease, however drinking alcohol above saferecommended levels can cause a variety of health harms. High levels of alcoholconsumption are associated with obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease andhaemorrhagic stroke.The harm that alcohol does is across all ages, gender and race but there areinequalities in the way that this impacts on life expectancy across the borough. Theward level data shows some variation in different parts of the borough, but thesignificant differences can be seen between mortality in Netherton and Woodside, StJames, St Andrews and Brockmoor and Pensnett compared with Kingswinford Southand Halesowen South (Figure 1). The gender inequalities are also evident whenward level data for males and females is compared. (Figure 2)Mortality rates from alcohol related causes are lower for women anyway, but even inwards where male mortality is high, women generally are less likely to die from analcohol related disease than their male counterparts. Estimates show that a manliving in Netherton and Woodside is more than 5 times likely to die earlier from analcohol related cause than in the more affluent wards of Halesowen or Kingswinford.104