A NEW programme to train people to recognise and deal with the early signs of problem drinking in others has been launched.

The Alcohol Identification and Brief Advice training programme is free for volunteers and staff from organisations who work with those affected by drink and drug issues.

It is being delivered by the charity Drugtrain and is funded by North Yorkshire County Council as part of its health prevention work.

The county’s portfolio holder for public health, Cllr David Chance, 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.

“Alcohol abuse 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 drink in some areas.”

The new free programme is designed to train volunteers and health workers to recognise the early signs of alcohol dependency and offer help and support before the drinking becomes more problematic.

It is available to a wide range of non-alcohol specialist workers and volunteers within North Yorkshire.

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