The number of women dying from alcohol related diseases has soared in recent years, new figures show, with experts blaming the rise on brands deliberately targeting marketing at women.
The latest data reveals the number of women who lost their lives this way in the UK increased by 37 per cent in five years – surging from 2,399 to 3,293 between 2016 and 2021 and marking the highest levels since records began.
While more men than women still die from alcohol-related diseases, the Office for National Statistics figures show deaths are rising substantially quicker for women than for men, with the latter seeing a 28 per cent in the same period – from 4,928 to 6,348.
Professor Debbie Shawcross, a professor of hepatology and chronic liver failure at King’s College London’s Institute of Liver Studies, said liver disease was a particular problem in female patients.
“Women tend to present with more severe liver disease, particularly alcohol-related hepatitis, and do so after a shorter period of excessive drinking and at a lower daily alcohol intake than men,” she said. “This can be accounted for by differences in body size and composition – less muscle mass.”
Richard Piper, chief executive of the charity Alcohol Change, claimed the main factor causing the surge is the “incessant marketing of drinks towards women” as he called for stricter regulation of alcohol advertising.
Abigail Wilson, from WithYou, a drug, alcohol and mental health charity, described the rise in women dying from alcohol-related liver disease as “very concerning” as she argued alcohol was as damaging as heroin and crack cocaine. “Women generally are less likely to die of alcohol-related causes than men. There is always a gap there but the gap is closing, and that is really concerning.”
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Roxanne Knighton, who lives in Staffordshire, told The Independent of the pain of losing her mother Melanie to alcohol-related liver disease in March 2022. She was diagnosed with the illness in her late forties.
“All the earliest memories were mum drinking,” the 34-year-old recalled. “She was alcohol dependent – it made her function.”
Ms Knighton said her mother never went to the doctor and was in denial about her drinking. So Ms Knighton made the call instead.
“It was me who called the doctors as she couldn’t get up off the sofa – she was full of fluid,” she added. “It had gone into her belly, she had to be drained, they got 12 litres from her.
“I was looking after her each day. It was four years until she died. It still hurts. I didn’t just lose her, I lost her to the alcohol first. You lose them twice.”
Raising concerns about the “feminisation” of alcohol marketing, Dr Piper highlighted annual reports of major alcohol brands which reveal they are deliberately targeting women.
“This is leading to deaths,” he said. “The second reason would be pricing – alcohol is more affordable now than it has been at any point in the last 20 years so people are drinking more.”
Sandra Parker coaches women to help them stop or cut down on their alcohol consumption
He called for ministers to introduce tighter rules on alcohol marketing and roll out minimum unit pricing for alcohol to make drinks with higher alcohol content more expensive.
Other campaigners warned it is harder for women to get support for alcohol misuse due to services often being tailored towards men. Women routinely do the lion’s share of childcare, meaning they cannot physically find the time, they say.
Helena Conibear, chief executive of the Alcohol Education Trust, attributed the rise in women dying from alcohol-related liver disease to a significant increase in binge drinking in the late Nineties and early 2000s.
Meanwhile, Prof Shawcross argued women who struggle with alcoholism endure greater “cultural stigma” than their male counterparts, which may deter women from pursuing help.
Women tend to present with more severe liver disease, particularly alcohol-related hepatitis, and do so after a shorter period of excessive drinking and at a lower daily alcohol intake than men
