When we asked if government’s drug strategy adequately dealt with alcohol, Dame Carol told us that she thought it began to deal with it. She hoped that of the circa 50,000 new treatment places that came with her independent review, 20,000 would be for alcohol- dependent people.13 She went on to explain that it was neither enough on alcohol nor on drugs but that the aim was to demonstrate to HM Treasury that both alcohol and drug treatment services could be improved with the funding available. Sir Ian told us that alcohol treatment services had always been a priority but explained that Alcohol Health Alliance wanted an approach to tackling alcohol harm that included prevention as the most important part.14 Sir Ian told us of his career as a liver specialist that he had “spent years pulling drowning people out of the water without walking upstream to see why they were falling in”. He went on to say “if you want to make an impact, there is no doubt that you need to go upstream”. Dame Carol, Ms Taylor and Ms Wiseman also commented on the importance of prevention strategies.15