Alcohol deaths in England at record high after 6 per cent rise in a year, NHS data shows

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. There were 5,843 deaths in 2017 where alcohol was the primary cause, with liver disease accounting for around 80 per cent of these, NHS figures show. However, alcohol is more affordable than ever, and numbers being treated for alcohol problems fell to 76,000 in 2017-18, down 6 per cent on the previous year – as successive cuts to public health funding have made access harder. “In 2017, 78 per cent of deaths due to alcohol were amongst those between 40 and 69 years of age,” said Dr Richard Piper, chief executive of Alcohol Change UK. “This suggests that the heavier drinking among older people is starting to take a toll.” For death rates to improve across all groups, he said, there needed to be adequate funding for alcohol treatment services, which are proven to help people tackle their dependence but which have been “relentlessly cut in recent years”.