Church groups call for health warning on drinks

The Salvation Army and the Methodist church are calling for cigarette-style health warnings to be printed on all drinks products and adverts.

The church groups also argue that the drinks industry should take more responsibility for the harm caused by alcohol and contribute to the costs of prevention and treatment of problem drinking.

This could involve the trade paying for the running of detox centres and community-based projects to support families affected by drink-related problems.

The groups want legislation to be introduced that would force the drinks industry to print health warnings on all drinks, along with the recommended weekly alcohol unit intake for men and women.

"It is imperative that we find a way to encourage responsible drinking to reduce the huge numbers of deaths caused by drinking and the associated social problems," said Dr Adrian Bonner, head of addiction services for the Salvation Army and an expert in addictive behaviour at the University of Kent. "We are looking for more measures to encourage a mind-set that says that all forms of excessive drinking are dangerous to individuals and those around them, not only drink-driving."

The recommendations are made in the church groups' submissions to the government's consultation on a National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy. The groups were invited by the government to take part in the discussion.

Karen Kelshaw, communications manager at the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "The proposals seem excessive.

We are committed to tackling alcohol misuse and promoting the sensible drinking message but this doesn't look like a good way of going about it.

"An awful lot of beer is sold on draught in pubs. Where would we put the warning?

"Also, there is no standard international unit measure to say how much people should drink so we think this would only cause more confusion."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "We will be considering all the responses to the consultation - the whole point is to gain views from different groups with experience in this field so we can draw up the alcohol strategy."

The church groups also recommend making non-alcoholic drink in pubs and bars cheaper.

They say a move to longer opening hours for pubs and bars alone may not reduce the problems caused by levels of binge drinking but simply redistribute them.