A newly-formed group in Britain called the 'Alcohol Health Alliance' is calling for better alcohol prevention and treatment strategies to deal with the escalating alcohol problem.
The Alliance which consists of 24 charities, medical bodies and patients' groups, is chaired by Professor Ian Gilmore the president of the Royal College of Physicians, and they want to see advertising restrictions and higher taxes on alcohol.
The Alcohol Health Alliance says drink kills more people than breast and cervical cancer and MRSA combined and they want a pre-9pm advertising ban on drink on television and are campaigning for the drink driving limit to be reduced.
The group are demanding a near zero limit for new drivers and more funding for alcohol prevention and treatment strategies along with more publicity about the negative effects of alcohol on health.
According to the group there is evidence that a 10% increase in alcohol tax would cut alcohol-related deaths by between 10 and 30%.
Its figures show a 95% rise in alcohol liver cirrhosis rates since 2000 and a 36% increase in the two years to 2006.
Alcohol-related deaths in Britain have increased 18% from 2002 to 2005 and figures show a 95% rise in alcohol liver cirrhosis rates since 2000 and a 36% increase in the two years to 2006.
The Alliance says as many as 13 children each day are hospitalised as a result of alcohol misuse and unless some action is taken to curb excessive drinking, particularly in the young, more people will die prematurely.