The Principles of Policies to Reduce the Burden of Liver Disease

Citation

Burton R, Henn C & Sheron N (2023) The Principles of Policies to Reduce the Burden of Liver Disease. In: Mueller S & Heilig M (eds.) Alcohol and Alcohol-related Diseases. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32483-3

Abstract
The dose-response relationship between alcohol and alcohol-related liver disease is exponential, as a result and in contrast to many other alcohol related harms, the majority of liver mortality occurs in heavy daily drinkers who seek out cheap strong alcohol. Price elasticities for very heavy drinkers are difficult to determine as this group are not represented in population studies. Nonetheless, data from the UK shows a strong relationship between the affordability of alcohol and liver mortality clearly demonstrating that these heavy drinkers are in fact extremely price sensitive. Interventions targeted towards very heavy drinkers, such as a minimum unit price for alcohol, are highly effective and cost-effective policies that can reduce liver mortality with practically no impact on low-risk drinkers.

Keywords
Alcohol; Alcohol-related liver disease; Policy; Intervention: minimum unit price