www.alkoholpolitik.ch

A nice drink cannot do any harm? Brain says no. A new study by a Chinese research group shows that even low doses of alcohol can harm the brain immediately though not permanently. „We were investigating the acute effects of low and high doses of alcohol by diffusion tensor imaging, wondering whether the consequences of alcohol administration can be observed by the measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA)“, said Dr. Lingmei Kong (Shantou University Medical College, China) at the 21st Annual Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) in Lisbon. They could. The participants of the study did not only show reactions in their behaviour. The research group could also show that frontal lobes and thalamus are more vulnerable to the effects of acute alcohol consumption. And: DTI is capable to detect changes in the brain after acute alcohol consumption not visible on conventional MRI. More than ! 3.200 neurological experts from around the world are currently discussing the latest developments in all areas of their specialty in the Portuguese capital. (Source: Medical News Today, 5/31/11)

– a follow up study of 2 399 young Norwegians.
Both early alcohol debut, behavioural and health problems are reported to enhance adolescence substance use. This prospective study investigate the influence of behavioural and health problems on adolescents‘ alcohol and drug use. …
Conduct problems in high-school more than doubles the risk for both frequent alcohol use and initiation of drug use later in adolescence. The combination of health problems and alcohol intoxication in early adolescence was closely associated with more frequent drinking later in adolescence among girls. Overall, early alcohol intoxication was closely associated with both frequent alcohol use and drug use at follow up in both genders. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/30/11)

Housewife or working mum – each to her own?
Aims: To investigate whether differences in gender-income equity at country level explain national differences in the links between alcohol use, and the combination of motherhood and paid labour.
Conclusion: In countries which facilitate working mothers, daily alcohol use decreases as female social roles increase; in contrast, in countries where there are fewer incentives for mothers to remain in work, the protective effect of being a working mother (with partner) on alcohol use is weaker. These data suggest that a country’s investment in measures to improve the compatibility of motherhood and paid labour may reduce women’s alcohol use. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/30/11) onlinelibrary.wiley.com, 2011

The influence of „Big Alcohol“ in the health arena deserves as much scrutiny as Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, especially in light of evidence of bias in funded research, unsupported claims of benefit, and inappropriate promotion and marketing by the alcohol industry, says a new editorial in this week’s PLoS Medicine. The PLoS Medicine editors argue that the statistics about problem drinking are troubling enough, but what also demands more attention and research is the influence of the alcohol industry on health research, government policy, and public perceptions of the harms and benefits of alcohol. … (Source: Medical News Today, 05/31/11)

Lansley wants supermarket action on ‚front of store‘ promotions
The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, has written to supermarkets to re-iterate requests that supermarkets pledge to remove alcohol promotions from front of stores, reports The Telegraph.
Department of Health (DoH) officials said Ministers were frustrated that more supermarkets had not made further commitments, with only Asda applying discretion to the location of alcohol promotions. In the letter, Lansley called on the supermarkets to „do more“, requesting „all major alcohol retailers‘ full participation in this effort“.
Earlier this year Alcohol Concern realeasd a report calling for separate alcohol aisles in supermarkets. The report claimed abundant alcohol displays were normalising alcohol as an everyday commodity, reducing recognition of it as a potentially harmful drug. (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 5/30/11) alcoholpolicy.net, 5/30/11

11-12 October 2011, Poznan Poland
The State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol Related Problems is organising an expert conference which will continue on the themes touched upon at the Swedish Presidency Expert Conference. It will be an opportunity to discuss the future of the Alcohol Strategy among policy makers at European, national and municipality levels as well as scientist, public health experts and representatives of the civil society.
The main themes of the conference will include:
– alcohol and cancer – alcohol and heart disease – alcohol and liver – alcohol and violence – economic aspect of alcohol related harm
– FASD diagnosis and prevention
Conference will focus on evidence based policy recommendations and recent research findings (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/26/11)

This statistical report acts as a reference point for health issues relating to alcohol use and misuse, providing information obtained from a number of sources in a user-friendly format. It covers topics such as drinking habits and behaviours among adults (aged 16 and over) and school children (aged 11 to 15), drinking-related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol-related costs. The report contains previously published information and also includes additional new analyses. The new analyses are mainly obtained from The NHS Information Centre’s Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) system and Prescribing data. The report also include up to date information on the latest alcohol related government policies and targets and contains links to further sources of useful information. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/27/11) NHS Information Center, 2011

Background: Alcohol and drug prevention is high on the public health agenda in many countries. An increasing
trend is the call for evidence-based practice. In Sweden in 2002 an innovative project portfolio including an
integrated research and competence-building strategy for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was designed
by the National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW). This research strategy case study is based on this initiative.
Methods: The embedded case study includes 135 projects in 69 organisations and 14 in-depth process or effect
studies. …
Conclusions: This research strategy case study shows that it is possible to integrate research into alcohol and drug
prevention programs run by NGOs, and thereby contribute to a more evidence-based practice. A core element is
developing a trustful partnership between the researchers and the organisations. Moreover, the funding agency
must acknowledge the importance of knowledge development and allocating resources to research groups that is
capable of cooperating with practitioners and NGOs. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/26/11) substanceabusepolicy.com, 4/14/11

A new law signed this week by Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas will require people arrested for the first time for drunk driving offenses to use ignition interlock devices on their cars. The law also requires the state to set up a central database of cases involving driving under the influence (DUI). …
The law, which goes into effect in July, strengthens the current law which suspends the license of a first-time DUI offender for 30 days, and allows a judge to order use of an ignition interlock device for another 330 days. The Associated Press reports that the new law mandates that the interlock device be used for 180 days after the license suspension.
Federal statistics showed that alcohol-related traffic deaths increased in Kansas in 2009 while they dropped nationwide. (Source: Join Together, 5/26/11)

Lunch Seminar, Hosted by MEPs Anna Hedh (S&D) and Marian Harkin (ALDE), European Parliament (Brussels)- A3E-2Tuesday 21 June 2011 12h00 – 14h30
Alcohol is one of the most heavily marketed products on our shelves.
Young people are an important target audience for the alcohol industry and they are exposed to unprecedented levels of sophisticated marketing, from mass media advertising to sponsorship of events, product placement, internet, merchandise, social networks etc.
Alcohol marketing has a powerful impact on young people’s drinking behavior and undercut the efforts by public health authorities to reduce harmful drinking among youth.
The speakers will analyze the scientific evidence on the cumulative impact of alcohol marketing and will present the results of two recent European projects on how to better regulate the content and volume of marketing in order to protect young people.
Please click here to register (People who DO NOT have a pass to the European Parliament need to register before 14 June 2011).
If you need any further information please contact Eurocare’s office at ruth.ruiz(at)eurocare.org or 02 736 39 76.