Malta should consider introducing restrictions on cheap alcohol, like wine cartons, to make it less accessible, according to the clinical director of substance abuse agency Sedqa.

George Grech also believes Malta urgently needs a national alcohol policy to address the growing problem.

A December report by the EU-funded Amphora Project – that looked into alcohol policy in European countries – flagged the absence of a policy in Malta.

“Malta’s policy has been in the pipeline for years and it is time to see the light of day. We’re seeing people drinking four litres of cheap wine a day.

“Research has shown that res-tricting cheap alcohol leads to less people being admitted to hospital,” Dr Grech told Times of Malta.

138,000– the number of EU citizens who die prematurely from alcohol in any one year

He gave the example of Scotland, which introduced a minimum pricing system for various types of alcohol, reaping positive results.

Over the past two years, the number of people going to Sedqa for alcohol problems increased.

While there were no statistics on the prevalence of alcohol abuse among adults in Malta, people “on the ground” noticed an increase in the number of women seeking treatment.

Younger people were also asking for help either because they had an addiction or they were regular binge drinkers.

While binging is not seen as an addiction, it could develop into one and could lead to liver damage among other health problems, Dr Grech said.

In the majority of cases people went to Sedqa after being advised to do so by a family member. There was also an increase in people sent to seek help by their employer.

“What worries me, as a clinician, is that we advocate responsible and sensible drinking but we are not specifying what it is.

“In Malta, we have a wine-drinking culture. I’m not advocating complete abstinence, but when we give messages we need to be clear about them. We need to specify what is sensible drinking,” Dr Grech said. He made reference to a study he carried out last year with fellow doctor Mario Grixti.

They administered a short scientifically-approved questionnaire to 80 patients, between the ages of 18 and 65, attending a doctor’s clinic.

They found that 20 per cent were drinking “in a hazardous manner” –which meant they drank quantities of alcohol that exceeded the WHO recommendations: that men should drink no more than 21 units per week, and women no more than 14. One unit is equivalent to half a glass of wine.

Dr Grech has long been insisting on the need to revise Malta’s blood alcohol concentration limit for drink-driving, currently at 0.8.

The limit is typically reached after three drinks for men and two for women.

He said he believed that family doctors have an important role to play in fighting alcoholism – and all it takes is informing patients about the consequences of their drinking.

Main findings of the Amphora Project

EU adults drink 27g alcohol (nearly three drinks) a day, more than twice the world’s average.

About 138,000 EU citizens, aged between 15 and 64 years, die prematurely from alcohol in any one year.

EU drinkers consume more than 600 times the exposure level set by the European Food Safety Authority for genotoxic carcinogens, of which ethanol is one.

Countries with more strict and comprehensive alcohol policies generally have lower levels of alcohol consumption.

Online alcohol marketing and alcohol branded sports sponsorship increase the likelihood of 14-year-olds to drink alcohol.