www.alkoholpolitik.ch

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, Belgium, 21^st September 2018

We are still number one but hopefully not for long – Europe’s alcohol consumption
WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018

More than 3 million people died as a result of harmful use of alcohol in 2016, according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) today. This represents 1 in 20 deaths. More than three quarters of these deaths were among men. Overall, the harmful use of alcohol causes more than 5% of the global disease burden.

Europe continues to have the highest per capita consumption in the world. The good news is that per capita consumption has decreased by more than 10% since 2010. However, Europe has the highest rates of current drinking among 15–19-year-olds, followed by the Americas (38%) and the Western Pacific (38%). School surveys indicate that, in many countries, alcohol use starts before the age of 15 with very small differences between boys and girls.

European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) wants to remind the European Institutions of the Council Conclusions on Cross-border aspects in alcohol policy – tackling harmful use of alcohol during the Estonian Presidency in December 2017.

Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare said:
“Juncker’s Commission has neglected and ignored alcohol policy. We are still waiting for decision on such, one might imagine, simple issue as whether consumers should have calories on the labels. Not to mention the missed opportunity of Audiovisual Media Services Directive to reduce exposure to alcohol advertising. Last but not least, we still have minimum excise duties from 1992. The progress we are seeing in Europe is because of courageous actions at a Member States level, countries such as Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Scotland, Finland have implemented progressive alcohol policy solutions’‘.

Member States have clearly shown that there is a will to do more to tackle alcohol related harm. Juncker’s Commission has to quickly increase its efforts to find a way to actualise these Council Conclusions.
Conclusions highlighted several areas of action and call on the European Commission to:

• Produce and adopt a new EU Alcohol Strategy
• Monitor and evaluate the adequacy of the current measures in the online advertising of alcoholic beverages
• Support Member States in the framework of a new Joint Action – RARHA
• Support research and studies in areas such as for instance cross-border purchases
• Propose better provisions for alcohol labelling by the end of 2019

WHO’s Global status report on alcohol and health 2018 presents a comprehensive picture of alcohol consumption and the disease burden attributable to alcohol worldwide. It also describes what countries are doing to reduce this burden.

Source: Eurocare, 18/09/21

69th IOGT World Congress urges governments to make alcohol policy the priority it should be and calls for Framework Convention on Alcohol Control.

42 countries, 77 delegates and 320 participants all together took part in the 69th session of the IOGT International World Congress. Together they issued the following declaration:

Make Alcohol Policy Solutions The Priority They Should Be

We, the delegates of the 69thIOGT International World Congress “Future Made Here”, gathered to galvanize fresh momentum in our efforts to tackle alcohol as major obstacle to sustainable development.

We note with alarm the lack of progress in preventing and reducing alcohol harm in countries around the world.

13 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals are adversely affected by alcohol. Every ten seconds a human being dies due to an alcohol-related cause. Globally, alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature death and disability among people between the ages of 15 to 49. Alcohol harm is decimating our families, hurting our communities, undermining our economic productivity, and impeding progress for all. All this is manufactured and fueled by the alcohol industry, their harmful products and unethical business practices, which include tax avoidance, pervasive marketing and industry self-regulation.

Not only is Big Alcohol ruthlessly pursuing profits with no regard for Human Rights, human dignity, and human well-being. The alcohol industry is also engaging in aggressive political activities to undermine, derail and obstruct evidence-based and cost-effective alcohol policy measures that would benefit people and societies.

We are deeply concerned about the fact that our governments are dangerously off track in fulfilling their commitments to promoting a better life for all through tackling alcohol harm.

Independent science shows that the alcohol policy best buys hold considerable and largely untapped potential to promote health,  foster development and to protect especially vulnerable groups like children and youth, women and people in deprived and marginalized communities. For example, a $1 investment in the alcohol policy best buy measures generates a return of $9 dollars. These alcohol policy best buys are important tools to help achieve the SDGs.

The lack of progress in policy implementation and enforcement since the adoption of the WHO Global Alcohol Strategy in 2010 make the need for a binding international agreement abundantly clear.

Therefore, we call for the adoption of a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control. In the era of the Agenda 2030, sustainable development will not be possible without renewed and high-level political commitment and persistent, evidence-based action to prevent and reduce alcohol harm.

It is high-time that governments make alcohol policy solutions the priority they should be in order to achieve development for all.

Source: IOGT International

To:

Hon. Mrs Aida Kurtovic, Chair of the Board

Hon. Mr Peter Sands, Incoming Executive Director

Hon. Mrs Marijke Wijnroks, Interim Executive Director

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Chemin de Blandonnet 8
1214 Vernier
Geneva, Switzerland

Dear Mrs Kurtovic, Mr Sands and Mrs Wijnroks,

It is with tremendous appreciation and respect for the work and mission of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria  that we write to you today to voice our deep concern with the newly announced partnership with Heineken, and to respectfully urge you to immediately end this partnership.

The era of sustainable development should be all about partnerships; to address cross-cutting drivers and determinants of ill-heath and poverty, to mobilize resources, to unlock synergies across sectors, and to galvanize truly sustainable efforts to implement evidence-based good practice for transformational change.

We understand the need to seek new financing mechanisms for global health and see the apparent benefits of building on the logistics developed by commercial enterprises. However, we respectfully point out the dangers inherent in partnerships with the producers and marketers of hazardous products such as alcohol.

Read more: http://iogt.org/open-letters/joint-open-letter-concern-regarding-global-fund-partnering-heineken/

signed by:

Kristina Sperkova, International President, IOGT International

Sally Casswell, Chair, Global Alcohol Policy Alliance

Katie Dain, CEO, NCD Alliance

New York, Auckland, London, February 1, 2018

Eurocare Press Release: NGOS RESIGN FROM HEALTH FORUM AS COMMISSION IGNORES MEMBER STATE AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR ALCOHOL STRATEGY

Public Health NGOs have today resigned from the EU Alcohol and Health Forum, following the announcement by Commissioner Andriukaitis that he has no plans to establish a new EU Alcohol Strategy[1]. The Commissioner’s decision goes against demands from Member States and the European Parliament for a new comprehensive Strategy to tackle alcohol harm in Europe.

Membership of the Forum, which is chaired by DG Sante, includes drinks industry representatives and public health NGOs. More than 20 health bodies, including Eurocare (European Alcohol Policy Alliance), EPHA (European Public Health Alliance) and the CPME (Standing Committee of European Doctors) today tendered their collective resignation in an open letter to Commissioner Andriukaitis.

Signatories to the letter outline their “deep concerns” about the neglect of public health and the prioritisation of alcohol industry interests. These include:

·        The Commission is ignoring calls from the European Parliament and Member States to develop a new EU Alcohol Strategy

·        The Commission plans to include alcohol within a wider framework for tackling chronic disease, which would fail to address many harms caused by alcohol to those other than the drinker, such as drink driving, domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation

·        There is no evidence to show that the EU Alcohol and Health Forum has had any impact on public health

·        The Forum was established to support the implementation of the previous EU Alcohol Strategy, which ended in 2012. With no new Strategy planned, membership of the Forum cannot be justified.

Signatories also expressed disappointment that the Commissioner had rejected requests for public health experts to have a formal structure to meet with Commission officials to discuss alcohol policy, free from vested interest groups.

Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare, said: “The Commissioner himself stated drinking behaviours in Europe are good for the Alcohol Industry but not good for Health. Eurocare represents 58 organisations in 25 countries and we deeply regret the Commission’s decision not to establish a new EU Alcohol Strategy. This flies in the face of persistent demands from Member States, the European Parliament and NGOs. The EU is the heaviest drinking region in the world and with 120,000 premature deaths related to alcohol each year, we absolutely must have a comprehensive strategy to tackle alcohol harm.”

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the EU Alcohol and Health Forum’s Science Group said, “This is a sad day for those who care about health in Europe. The Commission’s prioritisation of alcohol industry interests over public health has been laid bare. Many NGOs have participated actively and in good faith in the EU Alcohol and Health Forum, in the hope of making progress and reducing alcohol harm. However, with no evidence to indicate the Forum has achieved any meaningful results, and no promise of a new Alcohol Strategy, we see no alternative to walking away from this failing organization.”

Nina Renshaw, Secretary General of EPHA, said, „The alcohol industry must have raised a few glasses to DG SANTE after their admission at the last Forum meeting that they don’t even aim to improve health. The Commission has finally admitted what the health community has long suspected – that they have abandoned alcohol policy altogether.  The Forum has proved worse than useless, a free PR front for the industry. The Commission even endorses the industry introducing drinking culture to young kids by promoting „responsible“ drinking in primary schools. The health community had to call time on this charade.“

Yesterday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched its report “Tackling Harmful Alcohol Use”, a report assessing alcohol policy scenarios. The report has been developed over the last years and the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) welcomes the report and its strong recommendations for governments to implement evidence based and cost-effective alcohol policies.

Mariann Skar, Secretary General of the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, says: “Today OECD has presented a strong message to European Governments, the European Commission and the public health community. Even the most expensive interventions like health care and work place interventions are cost-effective and will give both an economic and health benefit when implemented. Most alcohol policies are not expensive to implement and leads to great health and economic benefits. Furthermore, the report shows the importance of addressing broad policy approaches such as price and marketing in addition to policies addressing only the ones who drink most”.

OECD launched its report yesterday at 11 am at OECD in Paris and at the Royal Statistical Society in London. The report and OECD press releases can be found here. 

The report comes in a time of great discussions on alcohol policies in the European Union. In April 2015, the European Health Ministers agreed on the need for common EU Alcohol Policies and addressed the need for more developments from the European Commission. Later the same month, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for a new EU Alcohol Strategy. These calls both respond to the lack of new initiatives from the European Commission, after the previous EU Alcohol Strategy which technically expired in 2012. The OECD report gives important knowledge to the discussion and policy recommendations to the Member States and the European Commission in their upcoming initiatives addressing alcohol related harm.
(Source: Eurocare)

Comment: Swiss politicians will ignore it as usual.

European Parliament Resolution calls for new EU Alcohol Strategy

29 April, Brussels– Today, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a Resolution calling on the European Commission to present a new EU Alcohol Strategy to tackle health harm for 2016-2022. The clear message from MEPs comes just a week after EU Health Ministers meeting in Riga called on the Commission (1) to take action on the health impacts of alcohol. Both MEPs and Ministers have criticized the Commission for failing to update the previous EU Alcohol Strategy which expired in 2012.

Folgen des niedrigen Alkoholkonsums: Die Publikation „Alcohol and Society 2014; Theme: The Effects of Low-Dowse Alcohol Consumption“ steht zum Download bereit. Ein Forschungsbericht der IOGT-NTO Schweden und der Schwedischen Gesellschaft für Medizin. In English and Swedish.
Kommentar: Die bisher ausführlichste Zusammenstellung der Forschungsergebnisse zu diesem Thema. Die Medien, die vor Jahren nicht genug über angeblich alkoholpositive gesundheitliche Vorteile berichten konnten, werden dazu wie bisher grösstenteils schweigen.
Quelle: Infoset

Original Contribution
Alcohol Consumption at Midlife and Risk of Stroke During 43 Years of Follow-Up
Cohort and Twin Analyses
Pavla Kadlecová, MSc,
Ross Andel, PhD,
Robert Mikulík, PhD,
Elizabeth P. Handing, BA and
Nancy L. Pedersen, PhD
STROKE AHA.114.006724 Published online before print January 29, 2015, doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.114.006724

From the International Clinical Research Center, Neurology Department, St. Anne’s Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic (P.K., R.A., R.M.); School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa (R.A., E.P.H.); Department of Neurology, St. Anne’s University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic (R.M.); Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden (N.L.P.); and Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (N.L.P.).
Correspondence to Pavla Kadlecová, MSc, Pekařská 53, 656 91 Brno, Czech Republic. E-mail kadlecovap{at}fnusa.cz

Abstract

Background and Purpose—Although alcohol–stroke association is well known, the age-varying effect of alcohol drinking at midlife on subsequent stroke risk across older adulthood has not been examined. The effect of genetic/early-life factors is also unknown. We used cohort and twin analyses of data with 43 years of follow-up for stroke incidence to help address these gaps.

Methods—All 11 644 members of the population-based Swedish Twin Registry born 1886 to 1925 with alcohol data aged ≤60 years were included. The interaction of midlife alcohol consumption by age at stroke was evaluated in Cox-regression and analyses of monozygotic twins were used. Covariates were baseline age, sex, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, stress reactivity, depression, body mass index, smoking, and exercise.

Results—Altogether 29% participants developed stroke. Compared with very-light drinkers (<0.5 drink/d), heavy drinkers (>2 drinks/d) had greater risk of stroke (hazard ratio, 1.34; P=0.02) and the effect for nondrinkers approached significance (hazard ratio, 1.11; P=0.08). Age increased stroke risk for nondrinkers (P=0.012) and decreased it for heavy drinkers (P=0.040). Midlife heavy drinkers were at high risk from baseline until the age of 75 years when hypertension and diabetes mellitus grew to being the more relevant risk factors. In analyses of monozygotic twin-pairs, heavy drinking shortened time to stroke by 5 years (P=0.04).

Conclusions—Stroke-risk associated with heavy drinking (>2 drinks/d) in midlife seems to predominate over well-known risk factors, hypertension and diabetes, until the age of ≈75 years and may shorten time to stroke by 5 years above and beyond covariates and genetic/early-life factors. Alcohol consumption should be considered an age-varying risk factor for stroke.