This year’s Alcohol Awareness Week takes place from 3-9 July 2023 on the theme of Alcohol and cost.
Please see this link for more details.
The harm caused by alcohol affects millions of people every year in the form of health problems, financial worries, relationship breakdown and family difficulties. It brings with it huge social costs too with the significant pressure it places on the NHS, the emergency services, police, and workplaces.
The total social cost of alcohol to society is estimated to be at least £21 billion each year. We as individuals also spend tens of thousands of pounds on average on alcohol over the course of a lifetime.
But the personal costs are much starker with alcohol death rates increasing to the highest rate since records began since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, and millions more people suffering from worsened mental and physical health every day as a result of harmful drinking.
The cost of living crisis has also played a key role in causing some people to drink more than they’d like to cope with worries around the crisis.
But the cost of alcohol to individuals, our relationships, our families, and our stretched vital public services doesn’t have to be so high.
We can all take steps to make a change. And with improved support and prevention, we can save money and save lives.