§ Mr. ShersbyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide a breakdown of the £2 billion cost to the health budget resulting from alcohol-related diseases.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe £2 billion cost figure is derived from research carried out by the Education and Science Research Council's addiction research centre at the University of Hull and the centre for health economics at the University of York. The research has estimated, on a tentative and conservative basis, that the total resource costs of alcohol misuse in England and Wales amount to £1.846 billion, at 1985 prices. A breakdown of this total is as follows:
The Resource Costs of Alcohol Misuse in England and Wales (1985 prices) £ million 1. The Social Cost to Industry (a) Sickness absence 723.55 (b) Housework services 48.60 (c) Unemployment 166.74 (d) Premature deaths 653.31 2. Social Costs to the National Health Service (a) Psychiatric hospitals, in-patient costs (alcoholic psychosis, alcoholic dependence syndrome, non-dependent use of alcohol) 19.89 (b) Non-psychiatric hospitals, in-patient costs (alcohol psychosis, alcohol dependence syndrome, alcoholic cirrhosis and liver disease) 8.04 (c) Other alcohol-related in-patient costs 82.09 (d) General practice costs 2.1 3. Society's Response to Alcohol-Related Problems (a) Expenditure by national alcohol bodies 0.33 (b) Research 0.60 4. Social Cost of Material Damage (a) Road traffic accidents (damage) 104.01 5. Social Cost of Criminal Activities (a) Police involvement in traffic offences (excluding road traffic accidents) 4.90 (b) Police involvement in road traffic offences (including judiciary and insurance administration) 14.53 (c) Drink related court cases 18.14 Total (excluding unemployment and premature death) 1,026.78 Total (including unemployment and premature death) 1,846.83