Alcohol
These pages are to help you understand more about the work that the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board’s Public Health Team are doing on alcohol.
The impacts of alcohol on health and wellbeing
Drinking alcohol is associated with risks of developing multiple noncommunicable diseases, such as liver and heart disease, as well as mental health and behavioural conditions such as depression, anxiety and alcohol use disorders1. Alcohol also increases the risk of several cancers, including breast, liver, head and neck, oesophageal and colorectal cancers1. There is no form of alcohol consumption that is risk-free; even low levels carry some risks and can cause harm1.
Harmful alcohol consumption also has wider societal and intergenerational impacts, including through direct physical harms, such as injuries, violence and foetal alcohol syndrome, and as an adverse childhood experience (ACE). 14% of surveyed adults in Wales reported exposure to alcohol abuse in the childhood household, with multiple ACEs increase individuals’ own risks of developing health-harming behaviours, such as high-risk drinking2.
Despite this, in 2024, the National Survey for Wales showed that 21.5% of adults living in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board area reported drinking over recommended guidelines (above 14 units), higher than the Welsh average (17.2%)3. 28% of children (aged 11-16 years) in Cardiff and Vale also self-reported drinking alcohol in 20234.
The impacts of harmful alcohol consumption are also not experienced equally across our population. In Wales in 2024 / 25, the proportion of all patients admitted for alcohol-specific conditions who lived in the 10 per cent of most deprived areas was 2.9 times higher than those from the least deprived areas5.
High levels of alcohol consumption within the night-time economy in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan also contribute towards alcohol-related violence and crime, and impact on our health services, including through attendances at the Emergency Unit at the University Hospital Wales, and the Alcohol Treatment Centre in Cardiff City Centre.
The Public Health Team’s work, in partnership, on alcohol harm prevention
The University Health Board’s Public Health Team works closely with our many partners, both in and outside the Health Board, to understand how alcohol is affecting our communities; to raise awareness about the harms of alcohol; to work together to prevent those harms; and to support our partners in helping those affected by alcohol.
Our Executive Director of Public Health, Dr Claire Beynon, is Chair of the Cardiff and Vale Area Planning Board (APB), a collaboration of partners from across the area who are responsible for developing, delivering and improving substance misuse services.
We have also established an Alcohol Harm Prevention Group, which brings together colleagues from across the Health Board, to strengthen and build on existing work on alcohol, and to develop new collaborative work. For example, we have worked with the APB Support Team, the UHB’s Emergency Unit and Safeguarding Teams, and the Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS), to develop an offer of alcohol screening and brief alcohol intervention for patients who attend the University Hospital of Wales’s Emergency Unit.
We are regularly involved in education and awareness-raising to prevent harm from alcohol, including creating resources and attending events in community and educational settings to give out information and advice.
We also provide training and resources to those delivering alcohol brief interventions as part of their roles. These are short, structured conversations aimed at supporting and encouraging individuals to make positive changes to their health and wellbeing by reducing the amount of alcohol they drink.
On a community and population level, we also support action to prevent harm from alcohol, for example, by working with our partners on alcohol licence applications, and in responding to Government consultations on alcohol policy.
Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about any of the work we do. Email the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Public Health Team on Cav.Publichealthteam@wales.nhs.uk; or phone us on 02921 836 505.
For health and care professionals - how can I get more help?
For further support for a patient or client:
There is reliable and easy to read information on alcohol and health, including advice on lower risk drinking, that is available on our team’s alcohol webpages and from the UHB’s Keeping Me Well webpages. There is also a more detailed NHS self-help guide available on understanding drinking habits, and a printable ‘Thinking About Your Drinking’ leaflet from Public Health Wales.
Further support is available from Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS) and DAN 247 – Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline.
Patients can also be referred for support to CAVDAS or to the Community Addictions Unit.
The Cardiff and Vale School Nursing Team School Nursing - Cardiff and Vale University Health Board are also available for support if alcohol use is directly or indirectly affecting a child or young person in Cardiff and the Vale.
For further training:
CAVDAS offer training to professionals supporting people who use alcohol or drugs in Cardiff and the Vale.
On-line Making Every Contact Count training is available here MECC // Public Health Network :: Home. This includes an evidence-based Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI) Level 2 online training module to develop skills, knowledge and confidence in delivering an Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI).
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[1] World Health Organization (2024) Alcohol. Accessed: 18th September 2025. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol
[2] Public Health Wales (2015) Welsh Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Adverse Childhood Experiences and their impact on health-harming behaviours in the Welsh adult population. Accessed 17th September 2025. Available from: https://phw.nhs.wales/files/aces/aces-and-their-impact-on-health-harming-behaviours-in-the-welsh-adult-population-pdf/
[3] Public Health Wales (2025) Public Health Outcomes Framework for Wales reporting tool. Available at: PHOF_Dashboard.knit (shinyapps.io). Accessed 17th April 2025.
[4] Public Health Wales (2025) Secondary School Children’s Health and Well-being Dashboard. Accessed: 18th September 2025. Available at: https://publichealthwales.shinyapps.io/SHRN_Dashboard/
[5] Public Health Wales (2025) Data mining Wales: The annual profile for substance misuse 2024/25. Accessed: 17th December 2025. Available from: https://phw.nhs.wales/publications/publications1/data-mining-wales/