Women's drink deaths double in 15 years

London: The number of women dying from drinking has almost doubled in 15 years, figures have revealed.

Women in their thirties are among those most at risk from serious drink-related disorders.

An Office for National Statistics report shows that 2,990 women in Britain died last year from alcohol abuse. This is nearly twice the rate of 1991.

More women aged 35 to 54 are dying of alcohol-related causes than any other age group. Coroners' reports show that more than 1,000 women in this category died from diseases including liver failure and hepatitis.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said the new figures were "deeply worrying".

He said: "Women seem to be more susceptible to the damaging physical effects of alcohol. My colleagues and I are certainly seeing more young women with serious liver damage than ever before in our clinics."

Professor Roger Williams, a director of the Institute of Hepatology at UCL, who treated footballer George Best, said: "Women are now equal with men in every respect and that includes with alcohol. But there is a big difference in their tolerance levels and they are dying at a much earlier age than ever before."

Ministers are under pressure to curb the nation's drink problem. They were heavily criticised for extending licensing hours which experts warned would fuel Britain's binge-drinking culture. New measures have been introduced, including labels which show how many units a bottle of wine or beer contains.

But campaigners say cheap supermarket alcohol is to blame. A new alliance of experts, which includes the Royal College of Physicians, has urged the government to increase drink duty.

The ONS figures show that deaths from drink addiction are also rising among men.

The total number of deaths among men and women last year was 8,758 - more than double that of 1991. Men are still drinking more than women and the male death rate is more than twice that for women, with retired males and those in their fifties most at risk.

This backs ONS research published this week which showed that top executives are drinking more than anyone else.

Frank Sooden from the charity Alcohol Concern said: "Beyond labelling issues and information campaigns, it's vital that the government finally starts investing more in alcohol treatment to help problem drinkers."

Anti-addiction charity Addaction said more treatment programmes were needed.

A spokesman said: "Drink is now cheaper than bottled water and supermarkets are to blame. We are hugely concerned about drink deaths especially among women who seem to be adopting a macho attitude to drink."