by Peter Barker
LONDON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Heavy drinking is causing Britain as many health problems as it is costing the country too much money that could have been spent on genuine health care, according to studies by medical expert groups.
One in six Britons drinks above sensible limits while one in 60has a level of alcohol addiction and the so-called boozing culture costs Britain over 4 billion U.S. dollars a year.
But these might be just the tip of an iceberg.
"With only one in 18 people dependent on alcohol receiving treatment ... we know that more needs to be done to help identify and treat patients," said Steve Barnett, chief executive of the National Health Service (NHS) Confederation which unveiled the figures in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians.
This is because the bulk of the 4 billion spent on boozers goes to hospitals and ambulance services which are forced to deal with people who get into difficulties after drinking too much, said the report compiled by the confederation and the college.
Half of all assaults are related to alcohol, along with more than a fifth of accidental deaths and almost a third of all suicides.
Nearly 15,000 people died in 2008 alone from alcohol abuse, or 3 percent of all deaths, according to figures from the Liverpool John Moores University.
The report warned that the increase in alcohol consumption in Britain, by 19 percent over the last three decades to reach a level now higher than any other European country, has led to greater demand for NHS service.
In the 2006/2007 period, alcohol was estimated to cost the national service 4.38 billion dollars, almost doubling the 2000/2001 expenditure of 2.38 billion dollars, the report said.
Though NHS offers free service to everyone in Britain, the pressure to react to drinkers' urgent and increasing health needs has made it difficult for preventive measures to keep pace, the report said.
Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "The nation's growing addiction to alcohol is putting an immense strain on health services, especially in hospitals.... The burden is no longer sustainable."
He said the National Health Service should not just be about treating the consequences of alcohol-related harm but also about active prevention, early prevention, and working in partnership with services in local communities to raise awareness of alcohol-related harm.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed in 2008 that between 1985-2005 alcohol consumption increased in Britain by 22 percent, whereas it fell in Italy by 37 percent, in France by 27 percent and in Germany by 29 percent.
Over the same period deaths from liver disease fell in Italy by 58 percent, in France by 50 percent, and in Germany by 28 percent, but rose in Britain by 136 percent, the organization added.
Policy Exchange, a right-wing think tank in Britain, even proposed punitive measures against boozers.
Henry Featherstone, head of the Policy Exchange's health and social care unit, said, "Alcohol misuse in Britain is at a level where it constitutes a public health epidemic. The costs of being admitted to hospital to sleep off alcoholic excess should be met by individuals, not the NHS.
"Those admitted to hospital for less than 24 hours with acute alcohol intoxication should be charged 532 pounds (862 dollars)."
Policy Exchange has estimated that the cost for NHS of treating people who drank too much on New Year's Eve, a night of wild and often alcohol-fuelled partying across Britain, would have reached 37.2 million dollars this year to cover ambulance services and accident and emergency staff costs.
