DRINK – and by that we mean alcohol – is barely out of the news these days.

Just this week there has been some controversy about pubs super-sizing their wine glasses.

It was rapidly followed by the news that binge drinker Natasha Farnham, just 14 at the time, was the youngest person in Britain to be diagnosed with liver failure.

She was downing up to six bottles of wine a day at 13 and in the three-day bender which landed her in hospital drank an amazing 16 bottles of wine, ciders and spirits.

Somehow she has survived to reach the age of 18 and has decided to go into rehab – warning others not to be as stupid as she has been.

All of which adds an urgent impetus to the Examiner’s story today revealing that health bosses are planning new strategies for tackling people’s alcohol problems.

An additional £7m will be spent this year on treatment and awareness campaigns.

You can see that it has to be done – but it is battling against a long, if not honourable, British tradition of binge drinking.

It goes back centuries and the plain fact is that we in these isles down a lot of drink because we want to.

Until this mindset is altered, the problem will continue.

We have to come to realise that we need to take responsibility ourselves.