Elinor Jayne, Director of expert group, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), said:

“As minimum unit pricing (MUP) of alcohol is going to be coming to a vote in the Scottish Parliament in the coming months, this new report setting out the impact of MUP at different levels is very timely. It makes it clear how much potential the policy has for saving more lives and reducing the burden of alcohol in our poorest communities where the deaths from alcohol are the highest.

“Given Sheffield Alcohol Research Group’s positive track record on modelling of MUP, it’s important that the Scottish Government use this latest research to inform their recommendation to Parliament at which level to set MUP from May next year.

“We believe that it should be at least 65p to restore MUP’s impact since 50p was first put in legislation more than ten years ago, and that thereafter it should automatically be uprated to maintain alcohol’s relative affordability to other products. This way we will start to realise the full benefits of MUP and the Scottish Government can then take forward other measures such as restricting alcohol marketing and investing in treatment services for people with alcohol problems.”