The publication of the annual combined substance use strategy report details the island’s response to nicotine, drugs and alcohol.
The data showed a decrease in a range of metrics across alcohol consumption from 2018 to 2023, with those never drinking increasing from 11.4% to 17.7%, while there were drops of one or two percentage points across all frequency categories, from those who drank monthly to those who drank four or more times a week.
Binge drinking – defined as having five or more drinks in one session – also saw a fall from 18.2% in 2018 to 15.8% in 2023.
However, Dr Nicola Brink, director of Public Health, said she would like to see further progress.
‘I think we still have a culture that normalises alcohol consumption, and people have risky drinking behaviours and don’t recognise that as a cause for concern,’ she said.
‘I think that’s something that we do need to consider further.
‘If you look at the chief medical officer’s definition of risky drinking in the UK, you’re looking at drinking no more than 14 units a week, and avoiding heavy drinking episodes and spreading it evenly over three or more days. 23.7% of respondents [in the Bailiwick] were drinking more than 14 units a week.’
Dr Brink added that excluding people who abstained from alcohol, more than a third of islanders who did drink were exceeding the recommended intake.
‘If you look at our last mortality report, we had 10 alcohol specific deaths per year,’ she said.
‘What we’ll be doing in the next mortality report is also reporting alcohol-related deaths.
‘We have 21 head and neck cancers per year, and we know that the major risk for head and neck cancers is alcohol and smoking, particularly in combination. If we translate that to an incident rate for Guernsey, the rate is 31.5 per 100,000, and that’s higher than England, which is 25.9.’
She added that the chance of being diagnosed with other cancers such as colorectal, bowel and liver cancers were all alcohol-related.
‘So if you want to reduce cancer risk, you’re looking at how you can modify your alcohol intake,’ she said.
‘The other thing about alcohol is also one of the reversible causes of dementia.
‘It’s really about people having this information so they can think about making the right decisions for themselves.’
Health & Social Care recommended an annual increase to excise duties for alcohol of at least 5% in 2025.
However, a freeze in alcohol duty was passed by the States in the 2025 Budget.
Dr Brink said that Public Health may now look to alternative taxation methods to encourage a decrease in alcohol consumption for the next States term, one that is already law in Scotland and Wales.
‘Excise duty is one form of taxation, but a more specific, focused way is minimum unit pricing,’ she said.
‘We’re going to investigate minimum pricing through this year and into next year and come up with some further recommendations.’
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