A minimum price should be set for alcohol to combat Britain's binge drinking epidemic, an NHS's watchdog has recommended.
Amid a sea of media attention surrounding the debate, the guidance body has recommended a multitude of measures that include a proposed ban on advertising and making alcohol less easy to buy by raising the minimum prices.
Other potential measures could include cutting how much holidaymakers are allowed to bring into the country from abroad and reducing the number of shops selling alcohol, as well as the days and hours it can be bought according to the BBCs website.
The advice comes from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (aka NICE) - the Government's health advisory body – and is the strongest call yet for action in the ever growing storm surrounding the UKs alcohol regulations and drinking problems.
So far the coalition government agrees that alcohol misuse is a problem, but does not support a minimum price action being taken.
The idea does however have strong backing from doctors and health campaigners, and the Scottish government is already trying to introduce a minimum price.
Speaking to the BBC on the subject, Dr Robin Purshouse, of Sheffield University, who did research on alcohol pricing for the Scottish Government, estimated that a minimum price on every unit of 40 pence would result in about 1,000 fewer premature deaths a year, about 40,000 fewer hospital admissions a year, and about 10,000 fewer violent crimes and criminal damage incidents per year.
Dr Purshouse told the BBC, "There's a wide range of factors that relate to people's alcohol consumption, but price is widely recognised as one of the greatest levers,"
"And if you look at the prices people pay, then the people who drink the most tend to pay less for the alcohol that they purchase."
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