Wednesday 8 February 2012

More evidence of social disintegration


Look at almost any long term UK social indicator and you will see the same thing; social disintegration.

Take alcohol consumption, for example. In the early 1990s, the annual alcohol-related death rate was around 6 people per 100,000. By 2010, it was over 12 per 100,000. The rate had doubled in just 20 years.

Why have alcohol-related deaths exploded? Well, I suppose it is because people are drinking more. I know. That was an uniquely perceptive observation. If you have a better explanation, (and I am sure you do), just click on the comments link and scribble away.

While you are at it, I will slip out to the off licence and stock up on a few bottles of Red Biddy.

6 comments:

dearieme said...

"Look at almost any long term UK social indicator and you will see the same thing; social disintegration": 'fraid so. But don't you worry about the booze/death data - utterly fake.

Anonymous said...

It'll stop being a problem once we've all converted to Islam.

Anonymous said...

It'll stop being a problem once we've all converted to Islam.

Weekend Yachtsman said...

I am highly suspicious of this data.

The first question is "how do you define an alcohol-related death"?

If the answer is, as I suspect, any death in which the relatives or the deceased admit to having regularly - or even occasionally - consumed on occasion more than the (totally bogus) government-approved ration of drinks, then the entire increase is a political construct and should be ignored.

Prior to 1991, did your dentist ask you how much you drank as a routine part of the registration process? They do now...

Anonymous said...

I would question the data.

See this article for how hospital admissions data for alcohol is of limited use;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/12/10/how-to-lie-with-numbers-alcohol-and-health-care-edition

An example is that if 3 hospital admissions are due to burns that counts as 1 alcohol related admission, even if none of the patients had been drinking.

aitor2 said...

it depends where u got the chart from, Alice.
If it was based on "Death Certificate" data then it is truly shocking. Also how many of these deaths are traffic accidents, drunk pedestrians killed...
The numbers of death never stopped being fascinating and opne to manipulation.