www.alkoholpolitik.ch » Prevention

THE GLOBE – Issue 1, 2012

htm — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:15:53 +0000

Alcohol and Youth in Africa, Asia and Europe
Also in this issue:

Alcohol Policy Youth Network / Nigerian Alcohol Prevention Youth Initiative / The IFMSA and the European Alcohol and Health Forum / Jyothirgamaya: Spreading the light of awareness by Ms Deepa Nair / “Alcohol-free Boat Races: the role of youth networks and social campaigns to change social attitudes on alcohol” / Alcohol and the young brain: girls at especial risk? / Teenage alcohol consumption associated with computer use / Alcohol and Unsafe Sex / Cigarette and alcohol use at historic low among US teens / Transatlantic Cooperation to combat underage drinking

DK: First fine ever for targeting alcohol marketing at minors

htm — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:57:01 +0000

Lately a ruling in Denmark – the first of its kind – provides that alcohol has no place in advertising targeted minors. The ruling is a victory for the Consumer Ombudsman, as well as for Alcohol and Society (former Danish Alcohol Policy Network) being the fruit of several complaints throughout the years.
Two years ago in 2008 the Danish Consumer Ombudsman clamped down on youth travel agencies with the law addition of 2006 as his legal basis. He thereby introduced a complete ban on alcohol in marketing targeted minors (below 18). December 2011 the law was put to the test and stood its ground. The court has sentenced the youth travel agency, Dansk Ungdomsferie Aps a 55.000 fine (7.000 Euros) for targeting minors and encouraging alcohol consumption. …
(Source: Eurocare Newsletter, 01/25/12)

USA: Boston Transit Authority Bans Alcohol Ads Starting July 1

htm — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:39:54 +0000

Boston mass transit will ban alcohol ads starting July 1. The ban will include subway cars, trains and buses, Boston.com reports.

Joe Pesaturo, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), said the transit line’s advertising contractor has said it expects ad revenue to drop by about $1.5 million in the first full year of the alcohol ad ban.

New York City and Chicago are the only other cities with major public transit systems that allow alcohol ads, according to Michael Scippa, spokesman for the watchdog organization Alcohol Justice. …
(Source: Join Together, 01/25/12)

USA: Big Alcohol Dominates Alcohol Regulator Meeting

htm — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:44:22 +0000

New Article Documents Alcohol Industry’s Vested Interests in State Regulation
In a peer-reviewed article in the February 2012 issue of Addiction, Sarah Mart, director of research at Alcohol Justice, has documented the alcohol industry’s excessive involvement in the annual National Conference of State Liquor Administrators (NCSLA) that took place in June 2010. More than two-thirds (72%) of the 187 meeting attendees, and 65% of the panelists, were from the alcohol industry. The rest represented state alcohol control systems and federal government agencies. Mart was the only participant representing public health policy. “Big Alcohol panelists sent regulators a warning message: Be industry-friendly. Don’t rock the boat of commerce with public health concerns, or your job may be on the line,” reported Mart. “The Federal officials that were present also spoke about supporting the industry, instead of protecting public safety.” Click here for the press release, and email info@alcoholjustice.org to request the full article.
(Source: Newsletter Alcohol Justice, 01/25/12)

FIFA is forcing Brazilian government to change law

htm — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:54:36 +0000

Press Release IOGT-International, 01/21/12
Fifa, football’s world governing body, keeps insisting that alcohol must be sold at all venues hosting matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Fifa even speaks of a right to sell beer. But alcohol is currently banned from Brazilian stadiums as part of measures to reduce violence in football and to improve public health in general. The country’s health minister has urged Congress to maintain the ban in the new “World Cup law”.

But Fifa is not willing to accept these arguments and Secretary-General Jerome Valcke says: “Alcoholic drinks are part of the Fifa World Cup, so we’re going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that’s something we won’t negotiate.”

“No, we do not excuse your arrogance,” says Mr. Sven-Olov Carlsson, President of IOGT International, “and we cannot accept that Fifa is willing to jeopardize the fun of the game, the safety of children and families and the positive social development in Brazilian society.”
“We suggest Fifa to take a good, hard look at its own Corporate Social Responsibility because words should be followed by deeds,” urges Mr. Carlsson.

Fifa writes on its webpage: “Ensuring that the game of football reflects the highest values of society is essential to Fifa. Through its regulations and actions on and off the pitch, Fifa fights negative influences on the game and ensures that the fundamental values are respected.”

A WHO study carried out in (among others) Brazil, showed that about 46% of violence-related cases included alcohol use. The study also demonstrated that violence related injuries increase with alcohol use. Global evidence shows that alcohol marketing, like sports sponsorship, causes earlier onset of alcohol use among youth and heavier alcohol use for those already consuming. All over the world, alcohol is an obstacle for development and human dignity. It is the socially the most harmful drug.

“That’s why IOGT International strongly supports the Brazilian Health Minister and calls on the Brazilian Parliament to keep football stadiums free from alcohol,” says Mr. Carlsson and continues:
“Football is about creativity and freedom. Alcohol is not. So, why does Fifa force them together and knowingly accept that people will suffer? For the profit? We demand from Fifa to take its own words seriously and put people before profit. Let’s set football free.”

DK: Majority support raising drinking age

htm — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:05:34 +0000

16-year-olds can currently buy beer and wine in stores, but must wait until they are 18 to be served in bars.
In an Opinion poll of 1,126 Danes conducted for Retail Institute Scandinavia, 73 percent said it was “a good idea” or “a very good idea” to forbid the sale of alcohol to individuals under 18.
Sharing that opinion was the health minister, Astrid Krag of the Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF).
“Danes’ high alcohol consumption is to blame for poor health and a lower life span, and especially among the younger population we have a problem that we must tackle,” Krag said to Berlingske newspaper. “Therefore, I’m happy to the see the opinion results and I believe that the age limit is one of the things we should adjust.” … (Source: Alcohol Reports – News, 01/09/12) theCopenhagenpost, 01/06/12

Does minimum pricing reduce alcohol consumption? The experience of a Canadian province

htm — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:59:44 +0000

Abstract:
Aims: Minimum alcohol prices in British Columbia have been adjusted intermittently over the past 20 years. The present study estimates impacts of these adjustments on alcohol consumption.
Design: Time series and longitudinal models of aggregate alcohol consumption with price and other economic data as independent variables.
Setting: British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Measurements: Data on alcohol prices and sales for different beverages were provided by the BC Liquor Distribution Branch for 1989 to 2010. Data on household income were sourced from Statistics Canada.
Findings: Longitudinal estimates suggest that a 10% increase in the minimum price of an alcoholic beverage reduced its consumption relative to other beverages by 16.1% (P<0.001). Time series estimates indicate that a 10% increase in minimum prices reduced consumption of spirits and liqueurs by 6.8% (P=0.004), wine by 8.9% (P=0.033), alcoholic sodas and ciders by 13.9% (P=0.067), beer by 1.5% (P=0.043) and all alcoholic drinks by 3.4 % (P=0.007).
Conclusions: Increases in minimum prices of alcoholic beverages can substantially reduce alcohol consumption.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/10/12) Full Report (pdf)

WHO Bulletin on Global Fund conflict of interest

htm — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:57:00 +0000

An article in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization raises concerns regarding conflict of interest in a partnership where SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer by sales volume, receive funding from the Global Fund for a HIV/AIDS prevention project in drinking establishements in South Africa.
“No conflict of interest” replies the Global Fund.
The recent issue of Bulletin of the World Health Organization carries a round table section: “Global Fund collusion with liquor giant is a clear conflict of interest. The First article is by Richard Matzopoulos, Charles DH Parry, Joanne Corrigall, Jonny Myers, Sue Goldstein and Leslie London. They describe how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) has recently included SABMiller as a recipient of funding for an education intervention aimed at minimizing alcohol-related harm, including HIV prevention, among men in drinking establishments.The authors think Global Fund support for this initiative is cause for concern.

The article discusses whether men in drinking establishments are the best target group for the intervention, whether a drinking establishment is the best location, and whether the educational intervention itself is effective. Their experience is that the liquor industry is inclined to support alcohol interventions that will not affect drinking rates at a population level. These interventions allow the industry to simultaneously fulfil social and legal obligations to address the harmful use of alcohol while ensuring that sales and profits are maintained.

Providing funding for a highly profitable industry that could afford to fund its own interventions also reduces the funds available for less well-resourced organizations.

Ask the authors: “Do we take it that the problem of “corporate capture” has now spread to one of the largest health funders in the world?” …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/08/12) add-recources.org, 01/05/12
Comment: At least the industry accepted the role of alcohol regarding HIV.

USA: Lifesaving and Crime-Prevention Effects of the 1991 Federal Alcohol-Tax Increase

htm — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:57:15 +0000

On January 1, 1991, the federal excise tax on beer doubled, and the tax rates on wine and liquor increased as well. These changes are larger than the typical state-level changes that have been used to study the effect of price on alcohol abuse and its consequences. In this paper, we develop a method to estimate some important effects of those large 1991 changes, exploiting the interstate differences in alcohol consumption.

We demonstrate that the relative importance of drinking in traffic fatalities is closely tied to per capita alcohol consumption across states. As a result, we expect that the proportional effects of the federal tax increase on traffic fatalities would be positively correlated with per capita consumption. We demonstrate that this is indeed the case, and infer estimates of the price elasticity and lives saved in each state. We repeat this exercise for other injury-fatality rates, and for nine categories of crime. For each outcome, the estimated effect of the tax increase is negatively related to average consumption, and that relationship is highly significant for the overall injury death rate, the violent crime rate, and the property crime rate. A conservative estimate is that the federal tax reduced injury deaths by 4.7%, or almost 7,000, in 1991. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/02/11) NBER Working Paper No. 17709, Dec. 2011

EU: HIGH LEVEL MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL ALCHOL POLICY AND ACTION

htm — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:28:51 +0000

EUROPEAN COMMISSION, HEALTH & CONSUMERS DIRECTORATE-GENERAL, Directorate C – Public Health and Risk Assessment
Unit C4 – Health Determinants, Brussels 17 November 2011
Summary Report, 12/22/11