BOTTLES of beer and wine should include graphic images of diseased livers and mouth cancers to warn of the dangers of drinking too much, doctors said yesterday.
The BMA conference in Edinburgh heard that alcohol consumption in the UK had doubled since 1960, alongside a massive rise in alcohol-related illness and crime.
Dr Raj Nirula, a urologist at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Wales, propos
ed the use of graphic images on alcohol products, as well as on posters in pubs and clubs, warning of the possible results of excess drinking. Images showing the results of smoking will start appearing on cigarette packets at the end of the year.
Dr Nirula said: "Alcohol consumption and binge drinking in society is a big problem." The UK could lead the way in tackling this by using the unpleasant images on cans, bottles and posters.
"They should be in pubs and on bottles, on every single drink," he said. "Excessive alcohol causes cirrhosis of the liver and leads to a higher incidence of cancer. I think we have to take the lead. We are talking about alcohol misuse in society,…this is becoming an epidemic. We have to start from an early age, to target teenagers – they are the ones getting into the culture."
Dr Nirula said people who were not drinking were seen as abnormal, with binge-drinking becoming the norm.
There was evidence that adverts at Christmas warning about drink-driving were successful in making people think about their behaviour, and he said graphic images on alcohol products could have the same effect – a move that was backed overwhelmingly by doctors at the conference.
They also called for soft drinks to be made "significantly cheaper" than alcohol, and for labels showing alcohol units per drink to be mandatory on bottles and bar taps.
Don Shenker, the chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said using graphic images on alcohol was an interesting idea, but he added: "We need to avoid alienating people with imagery or language that doesn't necessarily chime with their experience of drinking."
The full article contains 354 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
