HEALTH campaigners are calling for the minimum pricing for alcohol to be increased – even though new figures showed Scotland is the only part of the UK where drink-related deaths have fallen over the last two decades.

Alcohol Focus Scotland chief executive Alison Douglas said that despite this “encouraging decrease” Scotland continued to have “considerably more” deaths linked to alcohol than in England and Wales.

Douglas insisted that it was now time to review the current 50p a unit level for this, saying that the “impact of the current rate is likely to have been eroded due to inflation”.

Her call was backed by Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon, who tweeted: “Alcohol harm in Scotland remains a massive issue and is not getting the attention it needs. Alcohol Focus is right to call for a review of the 50p minimum price. There’s a case for an increase.”

As well as looking at the level set for minimum unit pricing, Douglas said: “Reducing how readily available alcohol is and how heavily it is marketed could help to improve the lives of thousands of Scots by preventing problems developing in the first place.”

Her comments came as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed there were 7565 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK in 2019 – equivalent to 11.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

In Scotland, there were 18.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2019. However, the ONS data showed Scotland’s rate had fallen from 26.1 deaths per 100,000 in 2001 – making it the only UK country to experience a fall in the death rate.