:00:36. > :00:44.This is Victoria. She's 35 and has been drinking a bottle of brandy a
:00:45. > :00:48.day. It's not sore. It's tender. Matthew's 45. 20 pints a day left
:00:48. > :00:55.him needing a liver transplant. When Mr Richardson said, "Matthew
:00:55. > :01:00.you're dying", I cried my eyes out. And Brian's 32. He drank so much
:01:00. > :01:04.cheap cider, he ended up living in a cave. Grim place, isn't it?
:01:04. > :01:08.This just looked like a normal home to me when I was drinking.
:01:08. > :01:12.They're part of a new younger generation of problem drinkers.
:01:12. > :01:13.are seeing people as young as those in their 20s dying of alcoholic
:01:13. > :01:19.liver disease. Tonight Panorama gets rare access
:01:19. > :01:26.to a hospital that's seeing the impact of drink on every ward.
:01:26. > :01:29.Worse case scenario, it will kill you.
:01:29. > :01:39.And we ask, are the Government doing enough to stop us drinking
:01:39. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :02:01.ourselves to death? Saw you awhile back, didn't I? I can't remember.
:02:01. > :02:09.Must get that done today. It's Friday morning at Liverpool's
:02:09. > :02:13.biggest hospital, the Royal. OK. Who do we have in here?
:02:13. > :02:22.Liver specialist Paul Richardson is on his ward round. One of his
:02:22. > :02:31.patients is worrying him. Is she still tearful? She is.
:02:31. > :02:39.Her name is Victoria White. Morning. Hi,.
:02:39. > :02:43.Victoria's only 35. She's got two children. But she's been drinking
:02:43. > :02:46.heavily since she was a teenager. And this is her today.
:02:46. > :02:54.Some people go their separate ways from alcohol. I didn't. I just
:02:54. > :02:57.carried on with it. You're just selfish through drink.
:02:57. > :03:07.As long as you're all right, you just don't care. You really don't
:03:07. > :03:10.
:03:10. > :03:13.care. Don't get me wrong. The kids were clean and, you know, clothed
:03:13. > :03:15.and stuff like that, but that's besides the point. They need a
:03:15. > :03:19.mother, not a drunk. Her eyes are yellow because her
:03:19. > :03:22.liver's failing, and Victoria's been here before. She nearly died
:03:22. > :03:28.five years ago and was told to stop drinking.
:03:28. > :03:31.I was okay at first. I'd just have a couple and leave it, and then as
:03:31. > :03:41.the days went to weeks, I just started drinking again. And here I
:03:41. > :03:44.
:03:45. > :03:47.am today. Just ruined by this substance that
:03:47. > :03:52.I pour into my body. And her mother Debbie has watched
:03:52. > :03:55.drink slowly take over her daughter's life.
:03:55. > :04:00.When she was about 16, she started lying, saying she hadn't had a
:04:00. > :04:03.drink, but, you know, you could smell it on her. You could tell.
:04:03. > :04:09.We'd start finding, like, cans of cider, bottles of vodka in her
:04:09. > :04:19.bedroom. She'd hide them under her bed. It wasn't like a few glasses
:04:19. > :04:21.
:04:21. > :04:26.of lager. It was like bottles of vodka, bottles and bottles of cider.
:04:26. > :04:32.And all that vodka and cider has left Victoria very ill. The doctor
:04:32. > :04:36.has serious concerns. He decides to take Victoria's mum away for a chat.
:04:36. > :04:46.What Debbie hears now is every parent's nightmare. Off camera
:04:46. > :04:53.
:04:53. > :04:56.she's told her daughter is getting I'd have expected to see
:04:56. > :05:02.improvement by this sort of stage of her hospital stay, and
:05:02. > :05:08.unfortunately, I've not seen the sort of progress that I'd like to.
:05:08. > :05:11.Alcoholic liver failure is what used to kill old men. Now it also
:05:11. > :05:14.kills young women. Paul Richardson says about two-thirds of his cases
:05:14. > :05:17.are alcohol-related, but it is the trend that is most disturbing.
:05:17. > :05:21.Cases of alcoholic liver disease in the under 30s have risen by half in
:05:21. > :05:24.the last ten years. Both locally and nationally, people
:05:24. > :05:26.who work in the field of hepatology have noticed an increase in
:05:26. > :05:34.alcoholic liver disease - and particularly alcoholic liver
:05:34. > :05:37.disease in a younger generation or a younger population, should I say.
:05:37. > :05:41.We are seeing people as young as those in their 20s dying of
:05:41. > :05:51.alcoholic liver disease, end-stage liver damage from alcohol. Now,
:05:51. > :05:53.that was just not seen 30 years ago. So how did it come to this - with
:05:53. > :05:56.alcoholic liver disease rising so dramatically and affecting younger
:05:56. > :06:06.and younger people? Experts say it's down to our national addiction
:06:06. > :06:08.- drink. It's everywhere. It's cheap, and
:06:08. > :06:14.millions of people are drinking too much. From happy hours to
:06:14. > :06:17.supermarket deals, alcohol is hurting the nation's health.
:06:17. > :06:20.It's costing the health service about �2.7 billion a year, and in
:06:20. > :06:30.fact about nine million people are affected by the harms that alcohol
:06:30. > :06:32.
:06:32. > :06:35.causes. So it's a big problem. It's not just words and statistics.
:06:35. > :06:41.This is what we saw one Friday night in the Royal's A&E. We're in
:06:41. > :06:44.Liverpool, but this could be anywhere.
:06:44. > :06:47.He's been out tonight, and he's had at least half a bottle of vodka.
:06:47. > :06:54.He's been found sleeping on the floor, and his friends have gone
:06:54. > :07:00.home and left him. This young lady that's just come in
:07:00. > :07:03.was found lying in the street by police totally by herself. No-one
:07:04. > :07:13.with her, and she's been drinking a lot tonight - said at least a
:07:14. > :07:16.
:07:16. > :07:19.bottle of vodka. It is only 1.00am, so you never
:07:19. > :07:22.know what's going to come in. The young in here have grown up in
:07:22. > :07:29.a new drinking culture - a generation that's only known cheap,
:07:29. > :07:35.readily available alcohol. What happened to you?
:07:35. > :07:39.Have you been drinking tonight? She's been out tonight. She's had
:07:39. > :07:42.quite a lot to drink, and she says a lot of vodka. And she's ended up
:07:42. > :07:52.in Sefton Park and doesn't know how she's got there. Have you been out
:07:52. > :07:53.
:07:53. > :07:56.tonight? Basically, my brother Paul had a
:07:56. > :08:00.fall this evening after a few drinks. One too many.
:08:00. > :08:03.Hit the wrong kerb and went over. It can look comical, but the scale
:08:03. > :08:11.is terrifying. A quarter of the adult population drinks too much.
:08:11. > :08:14.It was my birthday. I had about four or five pints for my birthday.
:08:14. > :08:17.We've got the problem if we have a lot of people intoxicated by
:08:17. > :08:21.alcohol in the cubicles, we've got nowhere then to see patients that
:08:21. > :08:23.need to be assessed and things like that. It's very difficult to know
:08:23. > :08:26.why our culture has changed so radically, but all the
:08:26. > :08:28.international evidence suggests that the big drivers for the amount
:08:28. > :08:31.people drink, the amount populations drink, are the price,
:08:31. > :08:37.the availability and the marketing, and that's what we've been trying
:08:37. > :08:40.to push governments to - to look at their policies.
:08:40. > :08:43.But how much influence can politicians have on our national
:08:43. > :08:47.drink problem? Well, our Prime Minister has strong views on cheap
:08:47. > :08:51.alcohol and the consequences of drinking too much.
:08:51. > :08:59.And this is the stuff that you're talking about - Frosty Jacks. That
:08:59. > :09:05.is three litres, 5.28 pints, 7.5%. And what would that cost me?
:09:05. > :09:08.can get that for �1.99. �1.99. You drink that lot, �1.99. You'll be
:09:08. > :09:13.completely smashed. In opposition, the Conservatives
:09:13. > :09:20.were clear that price was an issue. Their manifesto said: Ban off-
:09:20. > :09:23.licences and supermarkets from selling alcohol below cost price.
:09:23. > :09:28.Before coming to power, the Conservatives set up a Health
:09:28. > :09:31.Commission to find a new way of dealing with public health problems.
:09:31. > :09:35.Invited onto the panel were those who make and sell alcohol sitting
:09:35. > :09:38.alongside health professionals. One of those invited was Simon Capewell,
:09:38. > :09:40.a professor of public health at Liverpool University. He joined
:09:40. > :09:49.because he thought everything was up for discussion. But he says
:09:49. > :09:51.that's not how it really worked out. Every time effective interventions
:09:51. > :09:54.were discussed - legislation, regulation, taxation, subsidies for
:09:54. > :09:58.healthy options - there was a polite nod, and then we moved on to
:09:58. > :10:01.the next item, and of course, when we got to drafting and finalising
:10:01. > :10:11.the report, all of these - the most effective interventions - were
:10:11. > :10:18.
:10:18. > :10:20.notable by their absence. But in power, the coalition
:10:21. > :10:29.government clearly thought this more consensual approach was a good
:10:29. > :10:32.idea. They called in the drinks industry and the health lobby.
:10:32. > :10:35.So in theory, this would bring all of the interested parties together
:10:35. > :10:39.- the drinks industry and the health lobby with the Government
:10:39. > :10:42.listening and brokering a way forward. All sounds good.
:10:42. > :10:46.The companies that make and market alcohol were represented, as were
:10:46. > :10:51.the supermarkets. A number of health and pressure groups were
:10:51. > :10:53.there too. But once again the allegation is real change was not
:10:53. > :10:56.on the agenda. We put forward the suggestion that
:10:56. > :11:01.the supermarkets should not stack huge mountains of alcohol in the
:11:01. > :11:03.front of their stores. We put forward the suggestion that we
:11:03. > :11:06.should have health warnings on alcohol adverts, that supermarkets
:11:06. > :11:13.shouldn't advertise on the basis of price. All of these suggestions
:11:13. > :11:16.from the health organizations were met with complete stony silence.
:11:16. > :11:21.The health lobby also claim that the crucial issue of pricing was
:11:21. > :11:23.off limits. Every alcohol expert in the world looking at the issue, the
:11:23. > :11:26.World Health Organisation down, will tell you pricing and
:11:26. > :11:35.availability are two incredibly important planks. So being told
:11:35. > :11:39.that they were off the table was extremely worrying.
:11:39. > :11:41.They were so concerned by what they saw and heard that in March of this
:11:41. > :11:46.year many groups, including the British Medical Association,
:11:46. > :11:49.decided to withdraw from the consultation process. I think it's
:11:49. > :11:54.a tragedy. I think it's so sad because the goodwill of the health
:11:54. > :11:57.lobby is enormous. The health lobby stopped talking to you because they
:11:57. > :12:01.just felt you were way too close to the drinks industry. That's what
:12:01. > :12:03.they say. They wrote to you and told you that. I'm really sad
:12:03. > :12:10.actually that people stopped talking to us because it's never
:12:10. > :12:13.productive. We have to talk to people that we disagree with. But
:12:13. > :12:16.it's really important because actually when you look at public
:12:16. > :12:20.health and alcohol is a public health issue, what we need to do is
:12:20. > :12:22.to employ every tool in the box and everybody but everybody has got a
:12:22. > :12:25.part to play. Now, since coming to power the
:12:25. > :12:30.government has increased the tax on super-strength beer and has taken
:12:30. > :12:33.the first steps towards banning drinks being sold below cost. But
:12:33. > :12:36.the main policy document - the delayed Alcohol Strategy - is now
:12:36. > :12:46.expected by the end of the year. So right now the government's deciding
:12:46. > :12:55.
:12:55. > :13:00.just how far it should go to tackle The problem comes with who it
:13:00. > :13:03.chooses to listen to. For many of those on the front line at the
:13:03. > :13:09.Royal any solution would need to be dramatic. They see a problem that's
:13:10. > :13:14.moved a long way from just Friday nights, even Tuesday lunch is
:13:14. > :13:19.dominated by booze. This is really common. They say at peak times, 70%
:13:19. > :13:29.of A&E presentations are alcohol- related in some way, whether it's
:13:29. > :13:30.
:13:30. > :13:38.directly or indirectly. Kelly is 29. She's here with her younger brother.
:13:38. > :13:43.They're both drunk. He's being treated for a cut. We have had a
:13:43. > :13:47.drink and that we've had a few, two bottles of vodka and a crate of
:13:47. > :13:52.lager, but it was my birthday, and on Saturday we just carried on.
:13:52. > :13:56.Kelly's brother David gets back and explains the drunken game that led
:13:56. > :14:03.to his fall. I swung around a lamppost, hit the lamppost, but
:14:03. > :14:07.missed me foot and ended up on me chin. It was like a blood shower.
:14:07. > :14:13.We're still going for a pint, aren't we? Let's just go and get a
:14:13. > :14:17.pint and a packet of crisps. Overall, alcohol consumption is
:14:17. > :14:22.absolutely fall but in our hospitals, alcohol-related
:14:22. > :14:32.admissions continue to soar. Last area for the first time there were
:14:32. > :14:37.more than a million. Alcoholed a mightss have doubled in a decade.
:14:37. > :14:41.And every single case has a big ill pact on our Health Service. The
:14:41. > :14:47.average in-patient costs �400 a day, so this unit at the Royal is an
:14:47. > :14:51.attempt to reduce those admissions. You're still a little bit shaky.
:14:51. > :14:53.Lynne Owens runs a team that works across the hospital with the
:14:53. > :14:57.thousands that come here with alcohol problems.
:14:57. > :15:02.Most people would imagine that most of your work would take place in
:15:02. > :15:12.A&E, but in this hospital, which areas would you go to? There isn't
:15:12. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:19.an area we wouldn't go to - our coronary care unit and heart
:15:19. > :15:25.assessment unit, alcohol plays a major role in sexually transmitted
:15:25. > :15:28.diseases, orthopaedics, lots of broken bones. Clearly,
:15:28. > :15:33.gastroenterology wards with all the gut and liver problems, so I don't
:15:33. > :15:37.think there's anywhere that we wouldn't go. We need some LFTs,
:15:37. > :15:47.full blood count, clotting screen, random glucose. At least nine
:15:47. > :15:48.
:15:49. > :15:51.million of us are still damaging We must have a look at how we
:15:52. > :15:54.advertise and how appealing we make alcohol seem to young people. We
:15:54. > :16:01.must look at pricing. It's absolutely crucial that we look at
:16:01. > :16:06.how affordable alcohol is. that's the professional, what about
:16:06. > :16:13.the drinker? Brian Collins is only 32. He's been in here for three
:16:13. > :16:17.weeks with acute pancreatitis. He's about to go home. What were you
:16:17. > :16:23.drinking before you came in? Up to 11 litres of strong cider a day.
:16:24. > :16:28.day? Of 7.5 stuff. That's a huge amount of alcohol. That quantity of
:16:28. > :16:34.alcohol is taking its toll. Your pancreas, it's a chronic condition.
:16:34. > :16:41.You have it all the time, don't you? Alcohol sets it off, makes it
:16:41. > :16:45.what we call an acute condition. I don't know what the pain's like but
:16:45. > :16:49.it must be unimaginable. So all these health problems can all be
:16:49. > :16:52.traced back to the alcohol, can't they? So what you need to think
:16:52. > :16:55.about is how can you change things. Worst case scenario, it will kill
:16:55. > :16:58.you if you continue this. Have you been told this before? They said if
:16:58. > :17:01.I'd carried on I wouldn't have lived to see this Christmas. Brian
:17:01. > :17:05.was treated by Professor Robert Sutton, another senior clinician
:17:05. > :17:07.whose work is dominated by the impact of alcohol. In terms of
:17:07. > :17:10.those people who have acute pancreatitis, then approximately 35
:17:10. > :17:12.to 40% have alcohol as the principal cause; and of those
:17:12. > :17:22.patients who have chronic pancreatitis, then 60-70% of those
:17:22. > :17:25.patients have alcohol as the principal cause. So a very
:17:25. > :17:35.substantial number of our patients have alcohol at the root of their
:17:35. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:48.How long were you here, then? two-and-a-half months. A few weeks
:17:48. > :17:56.after he'd been discharged, I caught up with Brian Collins. He
:17:56. > :18:02.wanted to show us where he used to stay when he was drinking. Where
:18:02. > :18:06.were you getting the money? I was going into town and begging. That
:18:06. > :18:12.was like your job? Yeah, it was embarrassing and stuff like that,
:18:12. > :18:15.it was really embarrassing in case you bumped into anyone but, the...
:18:15. > :18:19.The illness and the problem was that bad that I couldn't do nothing
:18:19. > :18:23.else. This is the place where I was actually staying. Here? Yeah, it
:18:23. > :18:26.feels a bit mad now, looking at it, it looks a lot cleaner. So this is
:18:26. > :18:36.where you stayed? Yeah. A cave. Yeah, that's where I was staying
:18:36. > :18:40.and that. Let's have a look. So what time would you get here, then?
:18:40. > :18:44.Just before dark or something, so I'd basically find it. I'd just get
:18:44. > :18:47.right in at the back over there or over there and that and then if I
:18:47. > :18:51.heard anyone coming round I'd get here. So where would you sleep?
:18:51. > :18:54.sleep there, or over there but if I heard anyone coming round the park,
:18:54. > :18:58.gangs, I'd get here so it was quicker to get out so you're not
:18:58. > :19:01.trapped in, if anyone came in and I didn't have no cover or nothing.
:19:02. > :19:05.What does it feel like being back in here now? It feels weird. I mean,
:19:05. > :19:09.I think to myself now how bad and knowing what you've got, do you
:19:09. > :19:12.know what I mean? And look at the state of it now. It is embarrassing,
:19:12. > :19:15.like. Now, Brian drank strong cider - the drink that got David Cameron
:19:15. > :19:17.so exercised before the election. �1.99. You drink that lot, �1.99.
:19:17. > :19:20.You'll be completely smashed. Despite his shock, David Cameron
:19:20. > :19:25.hasn't managed to increase the price of strong cider. Health
:19:25. > :19:28.experts says that's what has to change - price and availability.
:19:28. > :19:32.We're not trying to have alcohol banned, and we do know that
:19:32. > :19:38.changing culture takes a long time. What we need to do is use the
:19:38. > :19:47.levers we've got, and those are price, marketing, availability.
:19:47. > :19:51.that could mean more legislation This is where the lines are drawn
:19:51. > :20:01.on the battle of booze. The Government says the details of its
:20:01. > :20:02.
:20:02. > :20:05.alcohol strategy aren't finalised, Voluntary codes can get a bad name
:20:06. > :20:08.when people then don't follow through. So ASDA, for instance, has
:20:09. > :20:12.said that they will take alcohol promotions out of the front of
:20:12. > :20:17.their shops. That's a good step and we need to monitor that, so
:20:17. > :20:19.anything voluntary must be monitored. The issue here is the
:20:19. > :20:22.irresponsible consumption - dangerous levels of consumption -
:20:22. > :20:25.of minority groups. That is why the industry invests millions of pounds
:20:25. > :20:28.in campaigns to try and change their behaviour. And why, hopefully,
:20:28. > :20:30.the conversations around this are going to deliver some change in
:20:30. > :20:38.other areas, including the introduction of more low alcohol
:20:38. > :20:41.But the health lobby say the Government is too quick to listen
:20:41. > :20:45.to those who sell and produce alcohol. Panorama has found
:20:45. > :20:47.evidence that seems to demonstrate a trend. The Government and
:20:47. > :20:54.Partners Alcohol Working Group might sound obscure, but their job
:20:54. > :20:57.is to advise on the coalition's alcohol strategy. There used to be
:20:57. > :21:06.just a couple of industry representatives around the table, a
:21:06. > :21:08.clear minority. By autumn of last year, that had changed. Of the 16-
:21:08. > :21:14.person group, the drinks industry has one, two, three, four, five,
:21:14. > :21:19.six, seven members. Nearly half of those who attend who are not civil
:21:19. > :21:22.servants. I can only imagine it's because this government believes
:21:22. > :21:25.that the drinks industry has a big role to play in shaping policy, in
:21:25. > :21:31.setting the agenda, and so they have extended the invitations to a
:21:31. > :21:35.larger set of people from the drinks industry. Nearly half of the
:21:35. > :21:38.people who sit on that are from the drinks industry. That seems to show
:21:38. > :21:41.a growing influence. I think we have a communications problem in
:21:41. > :21:46.Whitehall, because you know something that I have never heard
:21:46. > :21:49.of before. It's surprising she's never heard of the group. On it are
:21:49. > :21:55.senior civil servants from the Department of Health. Those who
:21:55. > :21:58.produce and sell alcohol certainly know about it. What you've got now
:21:58. > :22:01.is a bigger awareness amongst many of the larger companies, that it's
:22:01. > :22:04.important for them to be involved in these conversations, it's
:22:04. > :22:09.important for them to be seen to implement policies that are going
:22:09. > :22:12.to be tackling what is a very real problem. This might sound like a
:22:12. > :22:20.Whitehall debate, but this is about saving thousands of lives and
:22:20. > :22:28.billions of pounds - changing society's attitude to drink. Liver
:22:28. > :22:33.disease is now England's fifth So what happens when patients leave
:22:33. > :22:40.here? Hospital is a false environment. There's no booze in
:22:40. > :22:43.there. Outside, well, alcohol is a legal drug. We live in a drinking
:22:43. > :22:53.culture. There's temptation everywhere. So how do patients stay
:22:53. > :22:58.
:22:58. > :23:05.This is Matthew. By 45 he'd drunk so much he needed a liver
:23:05. > :23:14.transplant. They're expensive - �60,000 each. One in six liver
:23:14. > :23:18.transplants in the UK is caused by alcohol. I was drinking maybe 15,
:23:18. > :23:23.20 pints a day, seven days a week, which wasn't doing me any good at
:23:23. > :23:30.all. Matthew was eventually referred to Dr Richardson at
:23:30. > :23:33.Liverpool's Royal Hospital. When Mr Richardson literally said to me,
:23:33. > :23:42."Matthew, you're dying", it did sink in and I cried me eyes out,
:23:42. > :23:46.cos I realised I've got family, you know. I've got people that I know
:23:46. > :23:50.and I didn't want to die that early, I didn't want to die that early,
:23:50. > :24:00.I've got to do something and the only way to do it then was to stop,
:24:00. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:09.Now he's had the operation, he faces a life without alcohol.
:24:09. > :24:12.didn't think I'd make it. I thought to myself, "No, I need a drink, I
:24:12. > :24:22.need a drink." And everywhere you look, telly and everything, there's
:24:22. > :24:25.
:24:25. > :24:30.drink, people are drinking on the telly, they're drinking, you know?
:24:30. > :24:33.You're like, "Oh no, drink again, God, I want a pint." When I go on
:24:33. > :24:37.Friday, I'll have to see him about the shakes. I've got this in my
:24:37. > :24:40.mind, of the people I've got to really think of, is my wife, the
:24:40. > :24:50.person who gave me the liver, especially, my wife, the doctors
:24:50. > :24:55.
:24:55. > :24:59.who've looked after me, my family Do you want one, Ben? Yeah go ahead,
:24:59. > :25:06.then, lad. Matthew's having to show real strength of character. Alcohol
:25:06. > :25:12.remains all around him. Sometimes he still goes back and drinks with
:25:12. > :25:15.his mates. He drinks an orange juice - they've not changed at all.
:25:15. > :25:25.To see him now from what he was before. Especially with his new
:25:25. > :25:28.
:25:28. > :25:32.teeth. I really miss having a drink. And it is hard to do it. We still
:25:32. > :25:35.have the banter and that, you know? Yeah, as long as you're having a
:25:35. > :25:39.laugh. All that matters, isn't it? It's a social thing, isn't it? This
:25:39. > :25:42.is what we do, we all meet and have a laugh after a good day's work.
:25:42. > :25:46.can't, I can't help him. Cos there's no way I'm drinking orange
:25:46. > :25:50.juice with him. You know what I mean? But it's down to him. I don't
:25:51. > :25:54.come out as much as I used to. I feel if I come here, I get a bit
:25:55. > :25:58.tempted to have a drink but I've got to keep in the back of my mind
:25:58. > :26:06.what I've gone through and that. Here's to staying off it. Good luck
:26:06. > :26:12.to you. You'll do it. Across this city, across our country, we have a
:26:12. > :26:15.difficult relationship with alcohol. Most of us like a drink, but a
:26:15. > :26:25.large minority drink too much and the health service spends billions
:26:25. > :26:30.
:26:30. > :26:36.Shall we start with ladies? Victoria? A week ago, Victoria
:26:36. > :26:46.White's life had been on the line, but she's improved. It's really
:26:46. > :26:53.
:26:53. > :26:58.sore, doctor. Slowly. It's quite swollen. Are you saw anywhere? My
:26:58. > :27:05.hands might be a bit cold. I think there's been a lot of progress in
:27:05. > :27:08.the right direction. Certainly the level of jaundice has fallen
:27:08. > :27:12.considerably since when we last saw her, last Friday. She was very
:27:12. > :27:16.poorly indeed and I was very concerned about her outcome. It's
:27:17. > :27:24.been a tough week for her family. Horrendous. The thought of losing
:27:24. > :27:28.your child. This has been the worst. That she's ever been. We tend to
:27:28. > :27:31.have to help her when she comes out, we have to help her financially,
:27:31. > :27:41.morally, we have to help her physically, we have to look after
:27:41. > :27:43.
:27:43. > :27:46.her. So, as the Government tries to help a nation give up its addiction,
:27:46. > :27:53.will it as health experts fear listen too closely to the drinks
:27:53. > :27:55.industry? We all need to do our bit. It's very sad, if the media just
:27:55. > :28:00.think there's a conspiracy. There's no conspiracy. We want to reduce
:28:00. > :28:06.the harm that is caused by alcohol. For Victoria, the harm caused by
:28:06. > :28:12.alcohol is obvious. She wants us to look at her life and learn the
:28:12. > :28:22.lessons. Young girls, young boys, their parents, before handing over
:28:22. > :28:25.
:28:25. > :28:35.�6, �7, �8 pocket money of a Friday night... Just for people to look at
:28:35. > :28:40.