More than £5 million of Scottish Government cash will be given to health boards in Tayside and Fife this year to help tackle harmful drinking habits.
The local allocations were part of £36 million announced by Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon for health boards across Scotland, with the stipulation the money is spent on tackling alcohol misuse.
Tayside has been allocated £2.69 million and Fife £2.47 million.
Priority is to be given to so-called “brief interventions” when GPs and other health professionals take the opportunity to speak to people about their drinking habits when they attend surgeries.
The aim is to help people reflect on and address their drinking before it causes lasting health damage.
The brief interventions typically take the form of short motivational interviews, in which drinking habits are discussed, along with information about health risks.
In Tayside, the delivery of brief interventions was significantly reduced last year due to the effort being put in to protecting people against the swine flu virus, and the priority given to tackling that threat.
NHS Tayside strategy and performance manager Neil Fraser said, “We are one of the best-performing boards but, along with every other health board, our performance has fallen away.
“We are working hard to redeem that situation. I think we can recover the lost ground.”
George Cunningham, chairman of Fife Alcohol and Drug Partnership, said, “We welcome the funding announcement which will allow us to continue to implement the plans which began last April and build on our work in this vital field of healthcare.
“Work will continue around brief interventions in both primary care and accident and emergency settings as well as prevention work and counselling support, bringing very real benefits for the families and communities affected by alcohol misuse.”