David Smyth (Cancer, obesity and Boris Johnson’s ‘sin tax’ error, Letters, 8 July) says: “It looks to me as if the cost of treating those requiring medical attention because of their drinking will be more than met by the taxes paid by drinkers generally.”
However, Public Health England, academics and leading medical experts on alcohol suggest that the overall economic burden to the UK has been “generally underestimated”, and that the true figure is up to £52bn.
In the same evidence review they recommend a series of adjustments to combat this, including taxation and price regulation, regulating marketing, regulating availability, providing more education and information about the harms of alcohol, and managing the drinking environment.
Daniel Clayton
Cardiff
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