MEN in South Yorkshire are drinking away almost a year of their lives and almost a fifth of Sheffield's population is drinking at harmful levels, shock statistics revealed today show.
The staggering cost of alcohol to the health service was also revealed in Sheffield - where the city's hospitals are treating more than 7,500 patients each year at a cost of up to £12 million for alcohol-related injuries or illnesses.
Research com
missioned by the Department of Health shows estimates of how life expectancy would change in each local authority area if all alcohol-attributable deaths were prevented.
What is your reaction to the shock figures? Add your comment below.It shows men in Barnsley are dying 11.5 months earlier than they should do because of booze.
Men in Doncaster are losing 11.4 months, those in Rotherham are losing 10.1 months and Sheffield men are drinking away 8.1 months.
Women in Barnsley are losing 6.6 months, while those in Rotherham are losing 4.8 months. Doncaster women are dying 4.5 months early because of booze and those in Sheffield are losing 3.9 months of their lives.
Nearly a quarter - 23 per cent - of Sheffield's population engage in binge drinking - defined as drinking twice the daily recommended amount of alcohol in a single session - eight or more units for men and six or more units for women.
Up to 108,550 people in the city are putting themselves in danger and as many as 7,900 children in Sheffield have parents with a drink problem, which can manifest itself in neglect, health chiefs have warned.
In Sheffield in 2006/7 3,716 violent crimes and 69 sex offences were "attributable to alcohol".
Elaine Muscroft, public health specialist at NHS Sheffield, said about 4,000 people in Sheffield are currently seeking treatment for drinking - but it is thought that 42,000 people are actually in need of specialist help.
The figures come in the wake of new Government statistics which estimate the cost to the NHS of alcohol abuse at £2.7 billion and reveal that up to six per cent of all NHS admissions may be drink-related.
Nationally, more than 800,000 people a year are being admitted to hospital with alcohol-related injuries and illnesses which include cancer, heart disease and stroke caused by drink.
University of Sheffield researchers blame the availability of cheap alcohol on the rise in alcohol consumption.
In Barnsley, 5.7 per cent of the population engage in "harmful drinking" - defined as drinking more than 50 units of alcohol per week for men, and more than 35 units of alcohol per week for women. In 2006/7, 4,198 people in Barnsley were admitted to hospital due to alcohol-related harm - a rate of 1,633 per 100,000 people and the fourth highest rate in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
There were 6,480 people in Sheffield admitted to hospital with alcohol related problems, 5,530 in Doncaster and 4,419 in Rotherham.
NHS Sheffield - former Sheffield Primary Care Trust - is investing £100,000 this year in alcohol services and are training youth workers and police officers to talk to youngsters about their drinking in the hope it could lead them to seek help.
The city's public health organisation is trying to raise awareness of the dangers exceeding recommended limits will cause to health.
Recommended alcohol levels for men are no more than 21 units a week and 14 units for women.Tradition-ally, one unit is a small glass of wine, half a pint of beer or a pub measure of spirits But the availability of cheap and stronger alcohol, served in bigger glasses, means people may be unaware they are exceeding the limits and raising their risk of liver disease, heart disease, cancer and strokes.
Elaine Muscroft, public health specialist at NHS Sheffield, said: "If you drink regularly above safe levels it will affect your health. We are saying people need to educate themselves and make sure you are drinking within sensible levels."
The Sheffield University study will be used by the Government as part of its plan to tackle the problem of alcohol.
Dr Petra Meier, of the university's School of Health and Related Research said: "Our review has found very consistent evidence on the effect of alcohol pricing on alcohol consumption and related harm."
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FeaturesLatest sport.Check out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionThe full article contains 780 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
