THE number of alcohol-related death in Fife rose last year.

A total of 80 people died with specific causes relating to alcohol in 2022 compared to 73 the previous year. It was the highest figure since 2017 when there were 91 deaths recorded.

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Roz McCall has expressed her concern at the latest statistics.

“It is important to remember that these deaths are not just another statistic, they are somebody’s son or daughter,” she said. “My heart goes out to all those who have died as a result of an alcohol addiction and their families who will be suffering greatly.

“I am extremely concerned about the increase of alcohol-specific deaths in Fife, and I will be holding the Scottish Government to account for this in the Scottish Parliament.

“It is imperative that more is done to address this, that is why I will be urging the Scottish Government to back the ‘Right to Recovery’ Bill.

“We have an addiction problem in Scotland and these recent figures show that Fife has its fair share of people who need access to proper and sustained treatment. How many more have to lose their lives before the Scottish Government will ensure adequate treatment provision?”

The recently released figures showed a total of 1,276 people died from alcohol across Scotland last year – the highest figure since 2008.

Reacting to the statistics, the Scottish Government's alcohol minister, Elena Whitham, said the number would have been higher without minimum unit pricing (MUP) – which places a minimum charge of 50p per unit of alcohol.

“We know that the evaluation from Public Health Scotland shows that there has been an estimated hundreds of people whose lives have been saved by minimum unit pricing,” she said.

“Those are really positive measures, but I think if we didn’t have minimum unit pricing in place, I think that the deaths that we would be seeing would have been higher.”

She said it was “really important” the Scottish Government “take the time” to assess what was behind the rise in alcohol deaths.