IN a month when many curb their alcohol intake to reap the health benefits, a county council is publishing its own strategy for tackling alcohol abuse.

The North Yorkshire Alcohol Strategy 2014–2019 has been developed by the authority’s public health team in partnership with borough and district councils, clinical commissioning groups, police and ambulance services, and the North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company.

The strategy aims to work with these organisations to reduce the harm caused by alcohol to individuals, families, communities and businesses in North Yorkshire, while making sure people can enjoy a drink responsibly.

It is based on the findings of an extensive public consultation process which ran during the spring and summer last year.

County councillor Don Mackenzie said: “In North Yorkshire, although around one in seven adults abstains from alcohol, around a quarter of all people who drink are estimated to be drinking at harmful or hazardous levels.

“Alcohol-related hospital admissions are increasing year on year, and nearly 200 people die in North Yorkshire every year as a result of alcohol.

“It is associated with crime, including domestic violence and sexual crime, and features in antisocial behaviour in particular with over a quarter of incidents associated with alcohol in some areas.”

As well as supporting national campaigns like Dry January, the strategy's initiatives include working with businesses to encourage sensible drinking; running local awareness raising campaigns and activities about the harm alcohol can do and the importance of sensible drinking.

The county council also funds North Yorkshire Horizons, a service which provides treatment and recovery support across the county for adults with drug and alcohol misuse and dependence issues.

The campaign will also be looking into a minimum price for alcohol, and at increasing availability of low-cost non-alcoholic drinks in licensed premises.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of Public Health for North Yorkshire said : “For too many people, harmful or hazardous drinking has become normal.

“We need to shift that culture so that low risk drinking becomes the norm.”

Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, said: “Alcohol-related harm can have a significant impact on people’s feelings of safety and during a recent survey conducted for my police and crime plan, 69 per cent of responders said that tackling drug and alcohol problems was important to them as it had a negative impact on their feelings of safety.”

The alcohol strategy can be downloaded from the North Yorkshire Partnership website www.nypartnerships.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=28432