Health groups reject government's alcohol responsibility deal

14 March 2011 1 min read Jessica Lewis-Bell Health Drugs and alcohol

Six health groups have refused to sign up to the government's responsibility deal on alcohol, claiming it does not go far enough to tackle the problem of drinking among young people.

The government had hoped to use the deal to encourage the drinks industry to adopt voluntary agreements including the use of labelling to reduce alcohol abuse.

But organisations including Alcohol Concern and the British Medical Association have slammed the proposal in a joint statement, saying more needs to be done to protect young people against the negative effects of alcohol.

The statement read: "Heavy drinking has been shown to have a negative effect on educational achievement and subsequent occupational status. Given these facts, we cannot afford to waste time on policies that have a poor evidence base."

Alcohol Concern had proposed that the government’s deal needed to include an independent measure of young people’s exposure to marketing and limiting cinema advertising to films rated 18.

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