The survey concluded that the "prevalence of hazardous and harmful drinking has declined since 2003, most notably in the 2003 to 2009 period".

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He said health statistics showed that the problem of hazardous and harmful drinking was actually most common among the richer, rather than the poorer, sections of society.

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It meant that too little was being done for the estimated 7m hazardous drinkers - those drinking above the recommended limits but who were not yet seeing their health affected.

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