Six leading health organisations have dealt the government a blow by refusing to sign up to its new Public Health Responsibility Deal on alcohol in England.

The Responsibility Deal is a partnership between the Department of Health, industry and the health community covering alcohol, food, physical activity, and health at work. Organisations were asked to sign up by 7 March.

But the organisations, including the Royal College of Physicians and BMA, accused ministers of not being tough enough on the industry.

They’ve decided not to sign up to the overall Public Health Responsibility Deal because of serious reservations about the proposed alcohol pledges.

The six organisations - Alcohol Concern, British Association for the Study of the Liver, British Liver Trust, BMA, Institute of Alcohol Studies, and the Royal College of Physicians - have signed up to a joint statement explaining their position.

The statement says the overall Responsibility Deal on alcohol, which has the objective of fostering a culture of responsible drinking, does not adequately address the need to reduce alcohol-related mortality and morbidity.

It says the industry pledges are not specific or measurable and do not state what would be evidence of success.

The organisations also criticise the government’s prioritisation of industry views and lack of consideration of alternative pledges put forward by the health community. These have included proposed pledges to not advertise alcohol based on price; to not advertise in cinemas for under-18 films; and, to include health warnings on all drinks products.

The scope of the deal is currently too limited, the statement says. It does not tackle issues such as, availability or promotion of alcohol, and focuses on voluntary interventions with no evidence of effectiveness.

It states: “We have not yet seen evidence that government is working towards a comprehensive, cross-departmental strategy to reduce alcohol harm, based on evidence of what works, with rigorous evaluation metrics.

“There has been no commitment made on what alternative actions government will take if the Responsibility Deal on alcohol pledges do not significantly reduce levels of alcohol-related harm.”

The organisations involved were asked not to reveal the pledges until the launch of the deal, but the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers has already made the information available to the public on its website.

The broad pledge topics cover alcohol labelling, public information on alcohol units and health harms, preventing under-age sales of alcohol, alcohol advertising near schools and support for local community projects.

The six organisations that won’t sign the deal want the government to provide a clear and firm commitment on how it intends - via evidence based policy - to tackle affordability, availability and promotion of alcohol as part of a cross-government strategy, with rigorous evaluation metrics.

And, a clear presentation of the steps that will be taken if the current objectives are not met in 12 months time. They also want a firm commitment to consider change - including through regulation - if voluntary commitments from business are not met after an agreed time period.

The joint statement says: “The alcohol health community remains completely open to dialogue with the government and is prepared to continue to engage in discussions about how industry can act as responsible producers, distributors and promoters of alcohol.

“However, we do call upon government to follow recommendations from the World Health Organization and two parliamentary select committees; that alcohol policy should be guided by public health interests and the best available evidence, not influenced by competing commercial interests.”

But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley rejected the criticism, saying progress was being made and tough action was being taken where necessary.

He pointed to the recent announcements about plans for a new tax on super-strength beers and a ban on below-cost alcohol, whereby drinks are so heavily discounted they are sold for less than the tax paid on them.

Alcohol advertising should be banned in order to tackle its growing harm among young people, a report claims.

The BMA report, called Under the Influence, also calls for an end to all promotional deals like happy hours, two-for-one purchases and ladies’ free entry nights.

Furthermore, it renews the call for other tough measures such as a minimum price per unit on alcoholic drinks and for them to be taxed higher than the rate of inflation.

Alcohol consumption in the UK has increased rapidly in recent years, for example, household expenditure on all alcoholic drinks increased by 81% between 1992 and 2006. And at the same time, claims the author of the report, Professor Gerard Hastings, never before has alcohol been so heavily promoted.

He said: “Given the alcohol industry spends £800 million a year in promoting alcohol in the UK, it is no surprise that children and young people see it everywhere - on TV, in magazines, on billboards, as part of music festivals or football sponsorship deals, on internet pop-ups and on social networking sites.

“Given adolescents often dislike the taste of alcohol, new products like alcopops and toffee vodka, are developed and promoted as they have greater appeal to young people. All these promotional activities serve to normalise alcohol as an essential part of every day life. It is no surprise that young people are drawn to alcohol.”

Brand development and stakeholder marketing by the alcohol industry, including partnership working and industry funded health education, has served the needs of the alcohol industry, not public health, the report claims.

The key recommendations from the report include:

1. A ban on all alcohol marketing and promotion.

2. Minimum price levels for the sale of alcoholic products.

3. Tax increases on alcohol set above the rate of inflation and linked to alcoholic content.

4. A reduction in licensing hours for on- and off-licensed premises.

According to the World Health Organisation, alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature death and disability in developed countries after tobacco and blood pressure. It is related to over 60 medical conditions, costs the NHS millions of pounds every year and is linked to crime and domestic abuse.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of BMA science and ethics, said: “We have a perverse situation where the alcohol industry is advising our governments about alcohol reduction policies. As with tobacco, putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop – or at least putting him on a par with the farmer – is a dangerous idea. Politicians showed courage before by not bowing to the tobacco industry, they need to do the same now and make tough decisions that will not please alcohol companies.”

Commenting on the findings, Professor Ian Gilmore, chairman of Alcohol Health Alliance and president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “The report is an important review of the evidence base in this area. It shows very clearly that marketing and promotion communications have an impact on drinking behaviours and consumption patterns.

“Policy makers in England must ‘up their game’ and see alcohol as a major public health issue on a par with obesity and smoking that has an impact on the whole population and implement a strong evidence-based approach aimed at reducing overall alcohol consumption. The cornerstones of this approach must be strong public policy measures on price and the availability of alcohol underpinned with greater investment in prevention.”

Read the full report.