PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE

To Explore and Understand Alcohol Misuse as a Key Public Health Issue



To Explore and Understand Alcohol Misuse as a Key Public Health Issue

Neighbourhood Introduction

My home based PCT neighbourhood is London Borough of Hounslow. London Borough of Hounslow is one of the 32 municipalities of Greater London and is situated on the western side. Along with 19 other municipalities included in the Outer London. The Local Authority is called Hounslow Council. 

London Borough of Hounslow

The London Borough of Hounslow is a city district of London. It lies to the west of the city. With the founding of the Administrative Region Greater London in 1965 he emerged from the Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick, the Feltham Urban District and the Municipal Borough of Heston and Isleworth in the County of Middlesex (London Borough of Hounslow, 2010, 13-15). In 2010 the municipality of Hounslow had 236 800 inhabitants.

London Borough of Hounslow Demographic

Breakdown of population by ethnic groups

Ethnic group

Population

Percentage

White

132 900

59.70%

Black Africans

6600

2.96%

Black Caribbean

2900

1.30%

Black other

3500

1.57%

Indians

43 600

19.59%

Pakistanis

10 800

4.85%

Bangladeshi

1800

0.81%

Chinese

2100

0.94%

Other Asians

8700

3.91%

Other

9800

4.40%

Breakdown of population by religion

Religion

Percentage of

Christianity

52.11%

Islam

9.13%

Hinduism

7.57%

Buddhism

0.69%

Judaism

0.32%

Sikhism

8.60%

Other

0.56%

Unbelieving

13.46%

Given,

7.56%

Source: Audit Commission Report 2011

Alcohol Misuse - Public Health Issue

Alcohol is a significant public health issue, with a wide range of alcohol-related harms. The Chief Medical Officer summarised the harms from alcohol misuse, which include physical health problems such as cancer and heart disease; offending behaviours, suicide and deliberate self-harm; child abuse and child neglect; mental health problems and social problems such as homelessness. The Drug and Alcohol Joint Commissioning Strategy 2008 - 2011 sets out the vision and priorities for service change and development and identifies specific actions to be taken. It sets out ways in which the Local Authority, PCT and other partners will seek to develop services further in line with national and local priorities. It is written on the basis that there will be no new growth money for either the NHS or local authority (London Borough of Hounslow, 2003, 87).

Conditions of People in Hounslow

Approximately 22.5% of Hounslow residents are classified as 'increasing' and 'higher risk' drinkers (over 22 units of alcohol per week for men and over 15 units per week for women). This proportion is slightly lower than the England average of 23.6%. An estimated 10.3% of Hounslow residents are classified as 'binge drinkers' (eight or more units of alcohol for men or six or more units of alcohol for women, on at least one day in the previous week) - less than both the England and London averages. Around 5,300 people in Hounslow are classified as 'dependent' drinkers that is the people who feel they are unable to function without alcohol.

Mortality due to alcohol

For men living in Hounslow, the mortality rate from alcohol during 2007-09 was significantly worse than the England average, with 19.2 deaths per 100,000 males (compared with an England average of 13.1 per 100,000 males). Male deaths due to chronic liver disease from 2007-09 in Hounslow were also higher than the England average. For female residents of Hounslow, the mortality rate due to alcohol from 2007-09 was of 4.0 deaths per 100,000 women; less than the England average of ...