As MSPs meet in the Scottish Parliament today to debate progress made against Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy, we’re launching a timely infographic to highlight the very real dangers of the oversupply of alcohol in our society, and the knock-on implications for health and inequality. 

In collaboration with Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS) the infographic provides important statistics about alcohol and health in Scotland, including key findings from our recent work on alcohol outlet density and health.  Please use and circulate widely.

The infographic draws on our recent paper in Health and Place and report with Alcohol Focus Scotland, which assessed whether alcohol-related hospitalisations and mortality were related to local alcohol outlet density (for more detail see here and here).  Furthermore a forthcoming paper explores the association between area-level deprivation and outlet density.

Alcohol Focus Scotland have published a related brief that recognises the considerable progress that has been made since 2009, but also the critical need for continued action.  AFS identify 5 priority areas including ‘creating health promoting environments where communities play an active role’. This highlights both the significant relationship between outlet density and health-related harm, but also the important role that community members can play in shaping their local environments.