§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what effect the increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages since 1960 has had on accidents and on the demand for health care; and what further increase is expected in the next 10 years at the present rate of consumption.
§ Mrs. CurrieAlthough alcohol is known to be a factor in accidents of all kinds, central information is available only in respect of alcohol-related road traffic accidents. The tables set out information on alcohol-related accident injuries and deaths since 1976 and 1978 respectively, the earliest years from which information in this form has been collected.
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Drivers and riders in injury road accidents: breath tests and breath test failures: Great Britain: 1976–1986 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 (a) Total involved 396,733 411,565 414,579 397,595 391,870 390,736 401,460 377,289 396,735 389,473 397,671 (b) Total tested 36,143 37,178 39,461 40,983 41,632 41,027 43,341 42,265 43,461 44,702 61,218 (c) Total failed 12,131 11,852 12,965 14,085 13,421 12,303 13,494 12,432 12,557 12,557 11,946 Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. b as percentage of a 9.1 9.0 9.5 10.3 10.6 10.5 10.8 11.2 11.0 11.5 15.4 c as percentage of b 33.6 31.9 32.9 34.4 32.2 30.0 31.1 29.4 28.9 28.1 19.5 c as percentage of a 3.1 2.9 3.1 3.5 3.4 3.1 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.0
Drivers and riders killed in Great Britain: percentage over the legal blood alcohol limit: 1978–1986 Two-wheel motor vehicle riders Cars and other motor vehicles Year 16–19 20–24 25–29 30–39 40–49 50 All ages 16–19 20–24 25–29 30–39 40–49 50 All ages 1978 22 44 32 31 25 7 29 41 52 44 36 20 16 33 1979 26 39 39 45 18 20 31 37 43 46 46 29 15 32 1980 23 38 39 35 29 24 29 35 45 40 38 35 17 32 1981 17 39 41 42 20 29 28 21 44 47 41 39 9 31 1982 17 43 47 31 14 19 29 32 48 54 52 30 15 36 1983 17 26 42 26 8 — 23 30 42 46 45 25 8 31 1984 25 30 30 29 31 16 27 20 41 36 30 22 12 26 1985 15 27 33 36 7 14 22 25 36 42 39 23 10 28 19861 16 27 36 32 19 4 22 23 40 34 35 29 10 27 1 Provisional. Trends in the numbers of drink-drive accidents have been affected more by changes in legislation and police enforcement efforts than by changes in per capita alcohol consumption.
The demand for health care arising from alcohol-related accidents cannot be separately identified.
Recent research has estimated that alcohol misuse in England and Wales cost the National Health Service £112 million in 1985 in respect of in-patient treatment and GP services alone.
Government efforts are directed towards reducing accidents and other forms of alcohol-related harm. The new ministerial group on alcohol misuse will provide a single focus for developing and co-ordinating future Government strategy against alcohol misuse.