ALCOHOL: JOHNSTONE WELCOMES SHAAP RECOMMENDATIONS
Responding to the publication by SHAAP (Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems) of its ‘Top Twenty’ recommendations for action on alcohol, Alison Johnstone, Health and Wellbeing spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, said:
“The recommendations from SHAAP are welcome and I’m confident that health campaigners will be encouraged by the Scottish Greens manifesto when it is published in the coming weeks. As well as supporting Minimum Unit Pricing we have consistently questioned how healthy it is that a handful of big businesses - whose motives are all about profit - control our drinks industry.
“I’d also point to the comments of Sir Harry Burns, Professor of Global Public Health, who told the Scottish Greens conference in Glasgow that the health problems we see in Scotland, such as those from alcohol, are the result of poverty and inequality. By creating jobs, improving housing and protecting public services, we can prevent poor health and premature deaths.”