Big rise in alcohol abuse deaths among middle-aged women

DRINK-related deaths among women in Britain have nearly doubled in 16 years, figures show today.

An Office for National Statistics report shows that 2,992 women died in 2007 from alcohol abuse.

The rate of female alcohol-related deaths was 8.7 per 100,000 compared with five per 100,000 in 1991.

Women their mid-thirties and forties are among those most at risk from serious drink-related disorders.

However, more women aged 55 and above are dying of alcohol-related causes than any other age group. Coroners' reports show that more than 1,000 women in this category died from diseases including liver failure and hepatitis.

Government figures released last week revealed that executives earning more than £52,000 a year drank more heavily than anyone else. Ministers are expected to issue new guidance this year on drink labelling in an attempt to curb binge-drinking.

The ONS figures reveal that overall alcohol-related deaths are beginning to level out. The total number of people dying from drink abuse fell last year with 8,724 deaths recorded by coroners. But this was still more than double the 4,144 deaths recorded in 1991.

The male alcohol-related death rate was 18.1 per 100,000 in 2007, more than twice the rate for women. The rate of males deaths has almost doubled from 9.1 per 100,000 in 1991.

Experts warned today that the Government should do more. Professor Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology at University College London, said: "They (death rates) may have been halted slightly but we are still far below the rest of Europe on cutting alcohol-related deaths. My experience is that the numbers of people with alcohol problems on hospital wards and on the streets are still not reducing."