Doctors call for tougher warnings on alcohol risks

Graphic images of diseased livers should be displayed on beer cans and wine and spirits bottles to warn of the dangers of binge-drinking, doctors said yesterday.

Delegates at the annual British Medical Association conference in Edinburgh also called for soft drinks to be made "significantly cheaper" than alcohol, and for labels showing alcohol units per drink to be a mandatory requirement on bottles and bar taps.

Dr Raj Nirula, a urologist at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, said doctors had taken a lead on highlighting the dangers of smoking and should do the same with drinking.

Alcohol consumption had doubled since 1960, leading to more hospital admissions and associated crime, he said.

He added: "It is becoming an epidemic. [The images] should be in pubs and on bottles, on every single drink."

The motion was passed by a substantial majority at the meeting attended by 400 doctors from across the country.