§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was of treatment services for alcoholics and alcoholism, including in-patient and out-patient care and prevention schemes, in(a) 1970, b) 1980, (c) 1990 an (d) 1999. [126837]
§ Yvette CooperEstimates of the cost to the National Health Service of alcohol-related illnesses and injuries vary widely. The total cost of alcohol-related illnesses treated by hospitals is information that is not collected centrally and therefore no data are available for the periods in question.
The most recent academic estimate of which we are aware is for the costs of alcohol misuse in the NHS in England and Wales in 1992 and is reproduced in the table.
£million cost Inpatient costs—direct alcohol diagnosis 40.8 Inpatient costs—other alcohol-related diagnosis 120.2 General practice costs 3.1 Total 164.0 Source:
Health Education Authority: Health Update: Alcohol (1997)—after Godfrey, C. and Hardman, G. (1994))