§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made of the cost to industry of the effects of alcoholism, including the number of days lost through sickness induced by alcoholism.
§ Sir K. JosephI have been asked to reply.
Information is available about the number of days of certified incapacity recorded for national insurance purposes. The figures in general exclude days in spells of incapacity lasting less than three days. A doctor might enter some alternative diagnosis in preference to "alcoholism" on the medical certificate. Between June, 1970 and June, 1971, some 100,000 days of incapacity were attributed to "alcoholic psychosis" or "alcoholism".