Minimum Pricing of Alcohol - Is it too little, too late?

Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow

A quick run through of some of the most important messages and articles from the BMJ this week:

After the minimum pricing bill failed to pass through parliament in Scotland last year, now it's England's turn to try to introduce the incentive. The plan is for minimum prices to be 21p per unit of beer and 28p per unit of spirits (ie. 38p would be the cheapest price for a can of weak lager and £10.71 for a litre of spirits. Could this make a real difference in the alcohol consumption levels and associated harm in the UK? Doctors groups are unhappy with the preposals because they are seen to be "too eak" and not significant enough to make a difference. I would be inclined to agree with them however it may be necessary to start with these minimum prices before higher prices can be introduced. Every year in the UK approximately 40,000 deaths are partly attributable to alcohol and hospital admissions amongst 16 - 24 year olds related to alcohol are rising fast.

A Swedish study of young army conscripts has found that high blood pressure in young adults is a risk factor for premature death. In particular, a diastolic blood pressure above 90mmHg is linked to increased risk of death. What is not known, is whether treating high blood pressure in young adults would necessarily reduce risk of premature death in these young people.

No longer can people say that mental health and physical health are separate entities. There is now considerable evidence to show that patients with psychiatric disease are at increased risk of other medical co-morbidities. In a letter to the BMJ this week, Beary and Wildgust say that their research shows that schizophrenia is associated with a 25 year reduction in life expectancy with the top four most common risk factors being low fitness levels, hypertension, smoking and diabetes. These same four risk factors were identified by the World Health Organisation in 2009 as being the causing the biggest risk of mortality.

And in some good news this week, the European parliament have overwhelmingly approved new legislations to prevent the sale of "false medicines" to the general public. Estimations show that approximately 1% of all medicines legally sold to the European public are in fact false but in other parts of the world, this figure can be as high as 30%. Falsified medicines have in the past been called "silent killers".  The new laws cover internet sales, penalties for violations and improved traceability of the exact origins of where a drug comes from.
The ultimate goal is to reach a point where all pharmacists will be able to verify the authenticity of a drug before it is dispensed.