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WILTSHIRE Primary Care Trust (PCT) has welcomed the Government Consultation Paper on alcohol, published this week by the Department of Health, and has announced that it is committed to action which will reduce the harm caused by alcohol.

As part of the Safer Wiltshire and Healthier Wiltshire Partnerships, the PCT is currently participating in the development of a Wiltshire wide alcohol strategy that will focus on preventing adults and young people from harming themselves and others by improving knowledge about the risks of hazardous drinking.

Mary-Ann McKibben, a Consultant in Public Health at Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, said: "We want to ensure that people are able to enjoy alcohol safely and responsibly, and it is therefore essential that people know about, and understand, the risks to health and welfare caused by drinking in a hazardous way."

The PCT is working with Wiltshire County Council to provide better services to help people who have problems as a result of alcohol misuse, as well as their families or carers.

Pippa McVeigh, manager of the council's community safety and drugs team, said: "The alcohol strategy aims to minimise the harms to health and also the violence and anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol, whilst ensuring that people are able to enjoy drinking safely. We will be working with a wide range of partners to implement actions which will help us to achieve this for communities in Wiltshire."

3:59pm Thursday 24th July 2008

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