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The Swedish government Tuesday launched a new comprehensive strategy to deal with alcohol, drugs, doping and tobacco problems together, Xinhua informs.
„The overall objective is to make Swedish society free from illicit drugs and doping with fewer medical and social damage caused by alcohol and tobacco,“ Maria Larsson, Swedish Minister for Children and Elderly, said in a statement.
The goal is to address the overall problem caused by the use and abuse of alcohol, drugs, doping and tobacco.
Statistics show that 15 percent of the total disease burden in Sweden is due to the harmful effects that may be linked to the use and abuse of alcohol, drugs, doping and tobacco.
The strategy is proposed for 2011-2015 and was passed in the parliament at the end of March this year.
The government will invest 260 million kronor (about 40 million U.S. dollars) per year to support effort such as parents whose children take drugs or children who are abused at home. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/25/11) focus-fen.net, 04/20/11

Final Report in Series 1
The growing financial cost of drug and alcohol abuse puts tremendous pressure on every social sector. The present report, part of a larger Family Funding Study project, is final in the series that examined the cost of drug and alcohol abuse to West Virginia’s criminal justice, healthcare, education, welfare, and workforce systems. This final summative report incorporates estimates from all these sectors as well as includes data from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) and the Commission on Drunk Driving prevention (CDDP). … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/21/11) prevnet.org

Recommendations to reduce harm
This research project seeks to examine the impact of white cider on dependent drinkers. It examines the history, production and taxation of white cider, and considers the implications for future taxation, health and homelessness policies. (Quelle: Alcohol Policy UK, 04/21/11)

International Conference: 12th and 13th October 2011, Parc Thistle Hotel, Cardiff, Wales
Cigarette smoking is highly prevalent among people with alcohol use disorders. People who are dependent on alcohol are three times more likely than those in the general population to be smokers, and people who are dependent on tobacco are four times more likely than the general population to be dependent on alcohol. Alcohol use problems are associated with higher levels of nicotine dependence and a lower likelihood -of smoking cessation. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/19/11)

Patients with alcohol use disorders who develop an infection while in the hospital are more likely to die from the infection, than patients without an alcohol disorder, a new study finds. These patients are also more likely to stay longer in the hospital and have higher costs.
Health care-associated infections, which patients pick up in the hospital or other health care setting, affect about 1.7 million Americans each year, according to the study, as reported in HealthDay. (Source: Join Together, 04/19/11)

Analysis of data from Ireland’s Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) scheme has revealed a considerable increase in alcohol liver disease (ALD) morbidity and mortality between 1995 and 2007. The rate/100,000 adults (aged ≥15) increased by 190% from 28.3 in 1995 to 28.2 in 2007.
Over two-fifths (43%) of all discharges were aged 50–64 years; 6% were 15–34 years old, 35% were 35–49 years old and 16% were aged ≥65 years. There were considerable increases in age-specific rates especially among younger age groups, albeit from a low base; the rate of ALD discharges increased by 247% for 15–34 year olds and by 224% for 35–49 year olds. This is a worrying trend but is not surprising as survey data have shown that 18–29-year-old drinkers have the highest … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/18/11) (Full text is payable)

The WHO has launched a consultation aiming to bring together national focal points from European Member States and other stakeholders to develop a five-year operational plan for implementation of the European Strategy for the Prevention and Control of non-communicable diseases.
The consultation has three main objectives:
• To review the responses to non-communicable diseases (NCD) across the European Region;
• To agree on a practical set of actions that can be taken by Member States, by WHO and by partners to address the NCD epidemic in the five years to 2016;
• To contribute to the development of a European position in advance of the First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and NCD Control (Moscow, Russian Federation, 27 April 2011). (Source: Eurocare Newsletter March-April 2011)

Researchers know that there is a strong link between parental alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and the risk for developing an AUD among their offspring. This study looked at the risk of AUDs in the offspring of a large population-based sample of Danish parents. Findings confirmed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring. … Results showed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring, independent of other significant predictors such as gender, parental social status, and parental psychiatric hospitalization with other diagnoses. … (Source: Medical News Today, 04/17/11)

Political and economic transition is often blamed for Russia’s 40% surge in deaths between 1990 and 1994 (the Russian Mortality Crisis”). Highlighting that increases in mortality occurred primarily among alcohol-related causes and among working-age men (the heaviest drinkers), this paper investigates a different explanation: the demise of the 1985-1988 Gorbachev Anti-Alcohol Campaign. We use archival sources to build a new oblast-year data set spanning 1970-2000 and find that: (1) The campaign was associated with substantially fewer campaign year deaths,
(2) Oblasts with larger reductions in alcohol consumption and mortality during the campaign experienced larger transition era increases, and (3) Other former Soviet states and Eastern European countries exhibit similar mortality patterns commensurate with their campaign exposure. The campaign’s end explains between 32% and 49% of the mortality crisis, suggesting that Russia’s transition to capitalism and democracy was not as lethal as commonly suggested. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 15.4.11) iis-db.stanford.edu, March 2011) Comment: Amazing how clever Gorbachev and his staff reduced total consumption. Our governments could learn a lot.

Newer veterans’ groups are addressing alcohol abuse among young soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan by holding alcohol-free meetings. NPR reports that with alcohol abuse becoming a major problem with younger veterans, groups like Dryhootch in Milwaukee are trying to attract these vets with coffee instead of beer.
Dr. David Rudd, scientific director at the National Center for Veterans Studies, Utah University, tells NPR that nearly 20 percent of current vets suffer from anxiety disorder or depression, and many self-medicate with alcohol. This fact, coupled with the waning membership in traditional veteran groups such as Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, is driving the new alcohol-free approach. … (Source: Join Together, 04/14/11)