Would liver disease be reduced if alcohol prices increased?

That Spain is a country where alcohol consumption is culturally embedded is beyond dispute. For those who are still unclear, just refer to the Survey on Alcohol and Drugs in Spain (EDADES 2022) , conducted among the population aged 15 to 64, according to which alcohol is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance by the Spanish population.

A real problem that begins in adolescence, with increasingly younger children. The same survey, conducted a year later among students aged 14 to 18, indicates that the age at which children start using drugs is younger than 14 , for both boys and girls.

Added to all this data is the warning from the 2024 Monograph on Alcohol about the existence of "a causal relationship between harmful alcohol use and a range of mental and behavioral disorders, in addition to non-communicable diseases and injuries." Of all these pathologies, those related to the liver are the most common and serious.

Therefore, it seems very sensible for the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH) to request that the competent authorities implement a common strategy to promote the prevention and early detection of liver diseases. This strategy should be based on the recommendations of its National Liver Health Plan: Challenge 2032.

Key measure: price control

One of the measures the association is advocating for is an increase in the price of alcohol, given that Spain is one of the European countries where it can be purchased at the lowest price. In fact, in 2018, the prices of alcoholic beverages in our country were 16% lower than the EU average.

Well, a study conducted for the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) concludes that “establishing a minimum price of €0.70 per unit of alcohol (i.e., 8 grams of pure alcohol or the equivalent of a glass of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of spirits) would have a direct and significant effect on reducing liver disease.”

Increase of up to 130%

One of the problems this measure would face would be opposition from a large part of the alcohol industry, as it would amount to a price increase of between 40% and 130% on the cheapest alcoholic products. In other words, no bottle of wine could be sold for less than €5.60.

Experts are calling for a minimum price of €0.70 per unit of alcohol, i.e., 8 grams of pure alcohol.

Despite its unpopularity, hepatologists firmly believe in its relevance. As Ramón Bataller, director of the Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Registry (REALCH) of the AEEH, points out: "Fiscal policies, such as the minimum price per unit of alcohol, are effective because they primarily affect those who consume the most, who are also those at greatest risk of disease."

This is how it has worked in other countries

In 2018, Scotland introduced a minimum price of 0.50 per unit, and according to official data, alcohol consumption fell to its lowest level in 25 years. Several Canadian provinces have adjusted minimum prices to reflect inflation and have achieved a decrease in alcohol-related hospitalizations and deaths .

Experts believe that similar measures would help reduce figures such as the 6% of the Spanish population experiencing problematic alcohol use. Or the increase in cirrhosis in people under 30 due to heavy alcohol consumption.