www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Countries need to recognize that alcohol consumption is a big and growing public health threat and take appropriate action, experts concluded at a WHO regional meeting on the prevention and control of the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through reduction of alcohol-related harm.

WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-soo opened the four-day meeting on 10 April by calling alcohol a „chief culprit“ behind the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases, which accounts for four out of every five deaths in the Western Pacific. …
Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/24/12) wpro.who.int, 19 April 2012

Excessive alcohol consumption causes 79,000 deaths annually in the U.S., shortening the lives of those who die from it by approximately 30 years. Although alcohol taxation is an effective measure to reduce excessive consumption and related harm, some argue that increasing alcohol taxes places an unfair economic burden on “responsible” drinkers and socially disadvantaged people.

To examine the impact of a hypothetic tax increase based on alcohol consumption and sociodemographic characteristics of current drinkers, individually and in aggregate.

Data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey were analyzed from 2010 to 2011 to determine the net financial impact of a hypothetic 25-cent-per-drink tax increase on current drinkers in the U.S. Higher-risk drinkers were defined as those whose past-30-day consumption included binge drinking, heavy drinking, drinking in excess of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, and alcohol-impaired driving.

Of U.S. adults who consumed alcohol in the past 30 days, 50.4% (or approximately 25% of the total U.S. population) were classified as higher-risk drinkers. The tax increase would result in a 9.2% reduction in alcohol consumption, including an 11.4% reduction in heavy drinking. Compared with lower-risk drinkers, higher-risk drinkers would pay 4.7 times more in net increased annual per capita taxes, and 82.7% of the net increased annual aggregate taxes. Lower-risk drinkers would pay less than $30 in net increased taxes annually. In aggregate, groups who paid the most in net tax increases included those who were white, male, aged 21–50 years, earning ≥$50,000 per year, employed, and had a college degree.

A 25-cent-per-drink alcohol tax increase would reduce excessive drinking, and higher-risk drinkers would pay the substantial majority of the net tax increase.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/19/12)

Abstract
Aims: To provide an overview of alcoholics attending a socio-ecological treatment programme [Clubs of Alcoholics in Treatment (CATs)] and to identify factors associated with abstinence and self-perceived improvement in lifestyle.

Methods: A national sample of 7522 subjects (76% males and 24% females, mean age 53.2 ± 11.3 years ± SD) attending CATs was evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire completed at a weekly meeting in 2006.

Results: Of participants, >70% reported no alcohol use in the last year and around 90% indicated no use in the previous month, whereas 4% of them declared no alcohol use before club attendance. Abstinence and lifestyle improvement were related positively to the number of years of club attendance but negatively to the presence of other problems in addition to the alcohol-related one. Moreover, being older or female was associated with more likely achievement of abstinence as well as with the perception of a better lifestyle. Finally, attending the club with one or more family members was associated with achievement of better lifestyle.

Conclusion: These data provide an overview of alcoholics attending the CAT programme and are a first step toward developing a surveillance system. In addition, on the basis of this preliminary picture further research (notably longitudinal studies) can be planned considering this method and its effectiveness.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/27/12) oxfordjournals.org, 02/23/12
Comment: I visited one of the first clubs at the beginning of their work in Udine. It was very impressing and I am glad they have such a success over the many years.

A Panorama feature this week explored the issue of „Britain’s hidden alcoholics“ and is available on BBC iplayer until 4th March 2012.

The programme is an account from Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former spokesman, on ‚the British middle class’s troubled relationship with alcohol and his own long and complicated history with drink.‘ A supporting article is available to read here.

Alastair Campbell meets some of the increasing number of Britain’s middle-class professionals for whom one glass of wine after work is never enough, and asks if we all need to reassess our relationship with drink.

Alastair, Tony Blair’s former closest advisor, knows from bitter experience the true cost of excessive boozing: his alcoholism contributed to his nervous breakdown. …
(Source: alcoholpolicy.net, 02/21/12)

When considering the world’s worst killers, alcohol likely doesn’t come to mind. Yet alcohol kills more than 2.5 million people annually, more than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.

For middle-income people, who constitute half the world’s population, alcohol is the top health risk factor, greater than obesity, inactivity and even tobacco.

The World Health Organization has meticulously documented the extent of alcohol abuse in recent years and has published solid recommendations on how to reduce alcohol-related deaths, but this doesn’t go far enough, according to Devi Sridhar, a health-policy expert at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

In a commentary appearing today (Feb. 15) in the journal Nature, Sridhar argues that the WHO should regulate alcohol at the global level, enforcing such regulations as a minimum drinking age, zero-tolerance drunken driving, and bans on unlimited drink specials. Abiding by the regulations would be mandatory for the WHO’s 194 member states.

Far from prohibition, the WHO regulations would force nations to strengthen weak drinking laws and better enforce laws already in place, Sridhar says. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 02/20/12)lifescience.com, 02/16/12

A new government report finds 7.5 million children in the United States—10.5 percent—live with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 6.1 million of these children live with two parents, one or both of whom have experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

The other 1.4 million children live in a single-parent home, with a parent who has had an alcohol use disorder in the same time period, Reuters reports. Of these children, 1.1 million lived in households headed by a female.
The report was released in conjunction with Children of Alcoholics Week, February 12-18, 2012.
(Source: Join Together, 02/16/12)
Comment: This is one of the biggest alcohol related tragedies.

A new study provides clues about the brain mechanisms that drive people to abuse alcohol. The study found a link between how good people feel after they drink, and the amount of endorphins—proteins with opiate-like effects—released in their brain.

Similar findings have been seen in animal studies, but this is the first time they have been observed in humans, according to a news release by the University of California, San Francisco, where the research was conducted. “This is something that we’ve speculated about for 30 years, based on animal studies, but haven’t observed in humans until now,” said lead author Jennifer Mitchell, PhD. “It provides the first direct evidence of how alcohol makes people feel good.”

Researchers studied 15 volunteers; 13 were heavy social drinkers and 12 were not. Women were considered heavy social drinkers if they consumed 10 to 16 drinks a week, while men in that category had 14 to 20 drinks weekly, CNN reports. Women who were not heavy social drinkers had fewer than five drinks a week, while the men had fewer than seven drinks. …
(Source: Join Together, 01/13/12)
Medical News Today, 01/13/12

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say 38 million American adults are binge drinkers, and most of them are ages 18 to 34. In a new report, the CDC says that while binge drinking is more common among young adults, those age 65 and older who binge drink do so more often—an average of five to six times a month. …

Binge drinking is responsible for more than half of the 80,000 alcohol-related deaths each year in the United States, and accounts for about three-fourths of the more than $200 billion in costs from alcohol abuse, according to the CDC.

“Binge drinking causes a wide range of health, social and economic problems and this report confirms the problem is really widespread,” CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. said in a news release. “We need to work together to implement proven measures to reduce binge drinking at national, state and community levels.”

The CDC found binge drinking is more common among people with household incomes of $75,000 or more. However, binge drinkers with household incomes of less than $25,000 have the largest number of drinks per sitting—an average of eight to nine drinks.
(Source: Join Together, 01/11/12)
Comment: In one of the online comments is pointed out that this result shows that not only the alcoholics are the problem who cause the alcohol related harm to society. That is what the alcohol industry wants to make us believe.
From Full report (pdf):
Implications for Public Health Practice: More widespread implementation of Community Guide–recommended interventions (e.g., measures controlling access to alcohol and increasing prices) could reduce the frequency, intensity, and ultimately the prevalence of binge drinking, as well as the health and social costs related to it.

The health and social care provider Turning Point has said alcohol misuse within families is an escalating concern in its new report „Bottling it up: the next generation“. It says early screening and identification of families is needed urgently to prevent the ‘inter-generational cycle’ of alcohol misuse which blights the lives of children and undermines their life chances.

Up to 2.6 million children live with parents who drink at „hazardous“ levels and around 700,000 children are thought to live with dependent drinkers. As picked up in the Daily Express, pressure put on women to be „supermums“ was felt to be increasing alcohol use as a coping mechanism. Turning Point said more than 5,000 people who used their alcohol treatment services last year were parents.

The report says children of parents who misuse alcohol are more at risk of depression, anxiety and increased anger. Turning Point also highlighted JRF research which found that children who see their parents drunk are twice as likely to get drunk themselves. Children living with drinking parents are also more likely to experiment at an early age with alcohol and drugs, increasing the risk of their own later life substance problems.

In the report Turning Point call on the Government to place a duty on Local Authorities to develop strategies that take into account the harms to family life and children’s development. They also advocate the development of services which are more family focused and home-based, better liaison between adult and children’s services, and more information available to help affected children. … (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 12/15/11)

Prevention of Teen Substance Abuse Must Start with Tackling America’s Underage Drinking Epidemic. Let’s Make it Cool for Teens Not to Drink!

Joseph A. Califano, Jr.A recent survey of 7th through 11th graders in the Connecticut gold coast town of Westport, Connecticut, nails the importance of targeting alcohol use among teens for parents, teachers, pediatricians and public health professionals who seek to prevent teen substance abuse and addiction.

The survey by the Governor’s Prevention Initiative for Youth revealed that 25 percent of the town’s 9th graders, 37 percent of 10th graders, and 60 percent of 11th graders had been drinking alcohol in the previous 30 days. Translated from substance abuse statistical jargon to plain English, this means that these high school freshman, sophomores and juniors are current drinkers, likely drinking regularly. … (Source: CASA, Chairman’s Corner, 11/15/11)

our online-comment:
As long as politicians are not willing to reduce the harmful impact of the alcohol industry on society (TV-marketing is only one sector of many) in order to reduce alcohol consumption in general, youth will miss the good example and will hardly be convinced by educational prevention. Alcohol-lobbies are a sort of corruption. Not only in the Third World.