Minimum Alcohol Price Could Save Lives

Experts have written to The Telegraph in a bid to highlight the need for a minimum cost price for alcohol.

19 experts, ranging from the chief executive of British Liver Trust to the chief executive of Action for Addiction, have expressed an interest in bringing the era of "pocket-money prices" for alcohol to an end.

"We need to narrow the price gap between alcohol bought in bars and restaurants with alcohol bought in supermarkets and off-licences, to make bulk discounts and pocket-money prices a thing of the past," claims the letter.

The link between alcohol and long-term damage to health is clear for all to see, so raising the price may help curb addiction across the country. Hypnotherapy services can also provide a useful way to stomp out alcohol addiction through the use of cognitive behavioural therapy and negro-linguistic measures.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, special advisor to the Royal College of Physicians, told BBC News that nearly 10,000 lives per year could be saved if prices were raised to 50p per alcohol unit.

"We're talking about saving lives here," he claims. "It's not just about damage to individuals who drink too much but their children and unborn babies and the victims of alcohol-related crime."