A recent report by the Royal College of Physicians and Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) Confederation showed a 47% rise over the past five years, with currently one in five people being admitted to hospitals due to alcohol-related illnesses.

With almost one million alcohol-related hospital admissions per year, the report stated, "Alcohol misuse in Britain is at a level where it constitutes a public health epidemic."

Moreover, the state-funded NHS, which provides free health care for Britons, may have spent as much as US$37.1 million due to excessive drinking in one night this past New Year’s Eve.

NHS Confederation Chief Executive Steve Barnett stated, “We hope this report … acts as a warning that if we carry on drinking in the way that we are currently, the bar bill will be paid in worse health and a health system struggling to cope.”

Mr. Barnett, Royal College of Physicians and the National Health Service Confederation, our earnest appreciation for your work that brings more to light on alcohol’s damaging effects.
May such findings motivate us toward actions that protect our own and loved ones’ precious health.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BU16520091231
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6917365/One-in-five-admissions-to-hospital-casualty-
departments-because-of-alcohol.html