HC Deb 05 March 1973 vol 852 c56W
Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons in England and Wales, at the latest available date, were suffering from alcoholism; and how the figure compares with that of 10 years previously.

Mr. Alison

Comparative figures of this kind are not available, but surveys carried out during the last ten years into the prevalence of alcoholism suggest a range of between 200,000 and 400,000 alcoholics in England and Wales within the World Health Organisation definition.