As many as 4 in 5 Brits drink alcohol regularly, and a fifth consume more than the recommended amount each week. The proportion clinically defined as dependent on alcohol is closer to 1%, although that relatively low figure belies the widespread negative effects of addiction.

The public health consequences are particularly apparent in the available data and research. Here’s why it is so important for the UK’s alcohol strategy to focus more closely on addiction as a public health issue.

ONS research into alcohol-related deaths shows that almost 10,000 people die from causes associated with drinking each year. On top of that, the NHS estimates that nearly 300,000 hospital admissions annually are primarily caused by alcohol.

These two factors, combined with the wider repercussions of alcohol addiction, mean that the annual cost to public health services in the UK related to alcohol misuse is close to £5 billion. That does not include the additional sums spent on private alcohol addiction treatments, nor the broader economic burden, which is estimated at more than £27 billion every 12 months.

The costs created by addiction are compounded by the fact that communities at the lower end of the affluence spectrum tend to suffer greater negative health effects associated with alcohol than those living in better-off areas. This remains the case despite highly deprived communities, on average, drinking less than more affluent ones.

The reasons are complex, but research identifies one of the central problems as a compounding effect on health caused not only by alcohol misuse but also by greater exposure to other health risks, including those associated with smoking and poor nutrition. Any alcohol strategy must therefore account for the fact that significant health inequalities are at play, often running along lines of poverty.

Drinking plays a central role in British culture and social life, which in turn means there can be a degree of stigma associated with seeking medical help when addiction or misuse becomes apparent. In some circles, refusing a drink or choosing to stop drinking can still be treated as a social faux pas. At the same time, addiction is too often viewed as a weakness or character flaw.

Public health strategies can go a long way toward correcting this misconception. That means treating addiction in much the same way as other medical conditions, whether in a primary care setting or at the community level. Reinforcing the understanding that alcoholism is a condition requiring treatment, rather than simply a choice or personal failing, is essential.

There are, of course, costs associated with creating public health strategies and policies designed to improve the UK’s approach to alcohol misuse and addiction, and those costs can create hesitation around reform. Yet, considering the burden alcohol places on both the health service and the wider economy, additional spending on prevention, treatment, and support should be relatively easy to justify.

If more effective policies can return even a portion of the tens of billions lost to the economy and public purse each year, the case for greater investment becomes difficult to ignore.