Booze is still claiming too many lives in North Glasgow – that is the stark warning to local communities.
Hospital admissions linked to alcohol have dipped across North Glasgow, but the area is still one of the worst offenders in Scotland.An average of 860 people in every 100,000 were hospitalised due to alcohol across Scotland in 2004-2006.But this compares to a staggering 1,289 in North Glasgow.
That is actually lower than in 1997-1999 when the figure stood at 1,565, but health chiefs and community representatives say it is still not good enough.A new report, by the Scottish Public Health Observatory, focused on key indicators of health across Scotland’s 40 Community Health Partnerships (CHPs), set up to help health boards and local councils work together.One indicator focused on hospital admissions linked to alcohol, including estimates of road accidents associated with alcohol and other factors.
The report also revealed wide variations in life expectancy.North Glasgow has the lowest life expectancy, with men at 68.2 and women at 75.4.The national average life expectancy for men is 73.9 and 79.1 for women.
Dr Colin Fischbacher – a consultant in public health medicine at ISD Scotland, who led the project – said: “Alcohol is a big problem in Scotland and is something that affects all of us.People are drinking at unsafe levels, the government is right to put out an alcohol strategy, but we need something a bit more extensive to get to grips with the problem.”
Springburn MSP Paul Martin said the downward trend had to continue and warned against complacency.He said: “There is a significant amount of work to be done to ensure we continue improving these figures, so that people from a young age are aware of the impact alcoholism has on people’s health and also the pressure it puts on the health services.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Tackling alcohol misuse is a priority.We launched our discussion paper which contains a robust package of measures and have allocated over £120million to tackling alcohol misuse.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde received £6.3million from the Scottish Government to tackle alcohol muses earlier this year.A spokesperson said: “Tackling the scourge of the misuse of alcohol is a top priority for this health board.We are already working with several organisations offering a range of services to people struggling with an alcohol problem.”
