Scratch Card Scheme to Deal With Alcoholism in UK

In order to deal with alcohol related problems pharmacists in UK have put forward a proposal of handing out scratch cards which examine alcohol intake for patients while they are waiting for prescriptions. People have to answer a questionnaire like- How often do you drink? How much do you drink on typical days? How often do you drink more than 6-units in a session? Patients have to rub away the silver panels on the cards to check their scores and find out if they are drinking above recommended levels. For further advice they can discuss the results with the pharmacist or seek telephonic advice on an NHS number. The scratch cards also carry information regarding alcohol unit content of different drinks. This is a very good and cost-effective measure.

The scheme has already been successfully used in Portsmouth which had the highest rate of alcohol related hospital admissions. This scheme is believed to work as it targets people at an idle moment and may get them to answer questions honestly because they are doing so for themselves rather than being examined by a doctor. The scratch card scheme aims to reach out to the people who appear healthy but are drinking enough to trigger medical problems in future.


Source-Medindia