'Minimum pricing will save lives'
In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, the group, which includes 19 leading experts from institutions such as the Royal College of Physicians, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing, said that "pocket money prices" should be a thing of the past and that there was an "urgent need" to raise the price of cheap alcohol.
Their call comes before MPs debate alcohol taxation later today.
The experts point out that alcohol causes the admission of more than a million people to hospital each year, is linked to 13,000 new cases of cancer and is associated with one in four deaths among young people aged 15 to 24.
The letter said: “There is a wealth of evidence to show a direct correlation between alcohol affordability and levels of harm. In 2010, alcohol was 44% more affordable than in 1980, a trend mirrored by an increase in cases of alcohol-related health problems and social damage.
"We urgently need to raise the price of cheap drink. Harmful drinkers and young people are likely to be the most responsive to price increases.
“In particular, we need to narrow the price gap between alcohol in bars and restaurants and alcohol in supermarkets and off-licences, to make bulk discounts and pocket money prices a thing of the past.
"There is a push towards a minimum price for each unit of alcohol in the devolved nations of the United Kingdom, with the SNP leading the debate in Scotland. This is a simple and effective mechanism for the Scottish Government to control alcohol prices.
“If the Coalition is not ready for such bold action, MPs must not lose sight of the importance of taxation as a means not only to lower alcohol consumption but also to direct revenue into the public purse.”
