The number of alcohol-related deaths in Renfrewshire has hit the highest level in a decade.
Experts claim deprivation has a large part to play, with men accounting for two-thirds of the deaths.
The report by National Records of Scotland (NRS) reveals there were 227 alcohol-related deaths in Renfrewshire last year, up from 214 in 2020 and 207 in 2019.
It’s the highest total since 2012 when 229 people died due to alcohol.
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Renfrewshire was the eighth worst-affected council area, behind North Ayrshire, Dundee City, North Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, Glasgow City, and Inverclyde.
Across Scotland, there were 1,245 deaths due to alcohol, up from 1,190 the previous year.
Of those deaths, 792 of them were liver disease related, but 348 were attributed to “mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol”.
Julie Ramsay, vital events statistician at NRS, said: “Health inequalities are a feature of alcohol-specific deaths.
“Deaths attributed to alcohol were 5.6 times as likely in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas.
“This is more than the deprivation gap for all causes of death, which is 1.9.
“Two-thirds of those who died last year were male.”
The report comes exactly one week after the publication of the number of drug deaths in Scotland, which revealed there were 1,330 such deaths registered in 2021.
Renfrewshire recorded the fifth highest increase in drug deaths in Scotland when comparing the figures in the period from 2000 to 2004 with those from 2017 until 2021.
The double whammy of alcohol and drugs deaths drew a strong response from West Scotland Labour MSP Paul O’Kane, who was highly critical of the Scottish Government.
The Shadow Minister for Public Health and Social Care said: “Last week, Scotland was dealt a blow in finding out the latest drug deaths figure and now it’s been dealt a second difficult blow with the release of these latest alcohol related death stats,
“What cannot be forgotten here is that these figures are lives. The 227 people who died in Renfrewshire will have left broken-hearted families and loved ones behind.
“It is bitterly disappointing to see that deprivation is still such a key factor in the likelihood of alcohol deaths occurring and that is something that must inform Scottish Government planning going forward.”
He went on to say the increasing number of deaths can be attributed to a lack of funding of alcohol and drugs services by the Scottish Government.
He said: “We are sadly seeing the consequences of the Scottish Government’s decision to cut funding to drug and alcohol services play out in front our eyes.
“Like many other areas of health, things are getting worse rather than better, and it’s all been on the SNP’s watch.
“The Scottish Government must understand that expressing remorse or admitting their eye was off the ball isn’t enough - to save lives they must reinvest in the services that they should have never cut in the first place, they must bring forward a plan of bold action that will actually make a meaningful difference to this public health crisis.”
Mr O’Kane’s view is one echoed by Audit Scotland, who said in a report on drug and alcohol services published in March this year that: “Progress addressing these challenges has been slow since we first reported on drug and alcohol services in 2009, with a lack of drive and leadership by the Scottish Government.”
However, it did say that in recent years efforts have been made to restore funding to the services.
It continues: “Overall, funding to alcohol and drug partnerships reduced over several years, but by April 2021 it returned to around the level it was six years ago in cash terms, but with no real terms increase in funding.”
In June, the First Minister announced a new national mission to reduce drug related deaths and harms in January 2021, supported by an investment of £50million per year for the next five years.
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