Sir Liam Donaldson: charge by the alcoholic unit to combat culture of 'passive drinking'

The Chief Medical Officer said today that excessive drinking should be made as socially unacceptable as smoking, as he proposed controversial moves to raise the minimum cost of alcohol.

Unveiling the proposals in his annual report, which set him on a collision course with government and the drinks industry, Sir Liam Donaldson proposed regulations forcing shops to charge at least 50p per unit of alcohol.

The proposals would, if implemented, result in every can of beer costing at least £1 and a bottle of wine coming to a minimum of £4.

Gordon Brown immediately emphasised that he opposed the plans, claiming that the majority of responsible drinkers should not be punished for the behaviour of the few.

However, Sir Liam stressed that they were crucial as a tool to combat a nation-wide phenomenon which he described as "passive drinking" - the devastating knock-on effect of excessive alcohol consumption on wider society, such as the loved ones of drinkers, those killed by drink-driving, and the financial burden on NHS.

Referring to the Prime Minister's decision to reject his plan, he drew parallels with the debate over the smoking ban which he initiated long before it became mainstream policy at Westminster.

"I don’t mind being a football if a goal is scored in the end," he said. "I got a very hard time when I proposed smoke-free public places."

Writing in his report, Sir Liam said that binge-drinking was "killing us as never before" and that radical measures were needed to combat it.

"England has a drink problem and the whole of society bears the burden," Sir Liam said. "The massive effects of heavy drinking on innocent parties are easily underestimated and frequently ignored.

"The concept of passive drinking and the devastating collateral effect that alcohol can have on others must be addressed on a national scale."

He added: "Cheap alcohol is killing us as never before. The quality of life of families and in cities and towns up and down the country is being eroded by the effects of excessive drinking."

The Chief Medical Officer said that, if a 50p minimum price per unit policy was introduced this year, there would be 3,393 fewer deaths, 97,900 fewer hospital admissions, 45,800 fewer crimes, 296,900 fewer sick days, and a total benefit of over £1 billion per year.

The plans received a lukewarm reception in Westminster, however, with the Prime Minister flatly rejecting a uniform price-rise along with the Conservatives, the drinks and retail industries.

"As we crack down on binge and under-age drinking it’s also right that we do not want the responsible, sensible majority of moderate drinkers to have to pay more, or suffer, as a result of the excesses of a small minority," Mr Brown said.

In further recommendations to curb binge-drinking, Sir Liam said licensing laws should be tightened to reflect the full impact of drinking in each region. In order to do this, he said that fewer bars and nightclubs should be opened in areas where there were high rates of cirrhosis of the liver or breast cancer cases caused by alcohol.

Sir Liam also unveiled a series of other proposals to improve the nation's health in his report.

These included ensuring an improvement in the diagnosis of prostate cancer, of which one case is diagnosed every 18 minutes.

He said that it was vital to better publicise the symptoms of so-called 'pussycat' prostate cancer - a chronic, slow-growing form of the disease which is often not identified in time.

Compulsory pre-testing counselling would give prospective patients a clearer idea which symptoms to look out for, he said.

"Men diagnosed with early, localised prostate cancer face an enormously difficult decision of whether to have radical treatment and risk the side effects or take the small chance that their cancer may progress and threaten their life. It is vital that men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are truly informed of the risks and benefits of any treatment," he said.

In separate plans, hospitals and hospices should improve their management of people in chronic pain by developing a "pain score" with which to monitor patients alongside more conventional methods, such as blood tests and pulses.

The Chief Medical Officer added that awareness should be increased about the dangers of antibiotics, which he said were being used more and more frequently but which themselves caused disease.