www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS), a project by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, announces its latest update of state-by-state alcohol policies. The update reports developments in 29 current APIS policy topics, for the period 1/2/2009 through 1/1/2010. Visit the APIS website to obtain details on these and other important policy developments across the country. Many of these changes are consistent with the goal of reducing underage drinking and its consequences as well as alcohol-related death and injury in the general population. (Source: Marin Institute, 06/29/11)

In the United States, the blood-alcohol limit may be 0.08 percent, but no amount of alcohol seems to be safe for driving, according to a University of California, San Diego sociologist. A study led by David Phillips and published in the journal Addiction finds that blood-alcohol levels well below the U.S. legal limit are associated with incapacitating injury and death.
Phillips, with coauthor Kimberly M. Brewer, also of UC San Diego, examined official data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This dataset includes information on all persons in the U.S. who were involved in fatal car accidents – 1,495,667 people in the years 1994 to 2008. The researchers used FARS because it is nationally comprehensive, covering all U.S. counties, all days of the week and all times of day, and, perhaps most important, reports on blood-alcohol content in increments of 0.01.
All the accidents included in FARS are, by definition, severe. But the authors looked at different levels of accident severity by examining the ratio of severe injuries to minor ones.
„Accidents are 36.6 percent more severe even when alcohol was barely detectable in a driver’s blood,“ Phillips said. Even with a BAC of 0.01, Phillips and Brewer write, there are 4.33 serious injuries for every non-serious injury versus 3.17 for sober drivers.
… We hope that our study might influence not only U.S. legislators, but also foreign legislators, in providing empirical evidence for lowering the legal BAC even more,“ Phillips said. „Doing so is very likely to reduce incapacitating injuries and to save lives.“ (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/20/11) eurekalert.org, 06/20/11

Budapest, Hungary, June 16, 2011- The European Union is the heaviest drinking region in the world. Therefore, in Europe we suffer from the highest alcohol related problems. It is estimated that 58 million adults in the EU drink at risky levels, and 23 million are alcohol addicted. Alcohol constitutes the primary risk factor for accidents, injuries and violence. Approximately half of the deaths attributable to alcohol are from injuries.
This issue is being addressed at the 3rd European injury prevention conference, organised by EuroSafe in cooperation with the Hungarian Presidency of the European Council. Today stakeholders in the prevention of accidents and injuries from Europe and other continents meet in Budapest to exchange, debate and discuss the latest results in injury research, policies and practices. … (Source: Eurocare, Active Press Release, 06/16/11)

Drinks giant Diageo is to fund alcohol training for 10,000 midwives as part of the Government’s controversial Responsibility Deal. The training programme will be run by the National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome UK (Nofas-UK) to encourage midwives to highlight the risks of drinking during pregnancy.
But the news made the headlines amidst criticism that the alcohol industry be funding such initiatives, with reports from the BBC, Guardian, Independent and The Daily Mail.
Don Shenker, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, said: „It is deeply worrying that alcohol education is being paid for by the drinks industry, as it is then unaccountable and not necessarily based on evidence or public health guidance.“ Professor Ian Gilmore said, „To really make a difference, education and information must be backed-up by tougher action on the price, availability and marketing of alcohol.“ (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 06/13/11)

A report from the Centre for Public Health, UK, found expected higher alcohol related hospital admissions amongst areas with higher teenage pregnancy and STI rates: Contributions of Alcohol Use to Teenage Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infection Rates. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/10/11)

Our “Alcohol’s harm to others” conference took place on 3 June in Edinburgh. Around 100 delegates attended to hear from expert speakers and workshop leaders on the impact of excessive drinking on people other than the drinker, with a particular focus on children and young people.
Presentations can be downloaded below and the conference report will be available soon. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/10/11)

Alcohol use, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder together account for 45 percent of disabilities among young people ages 10 to 24 worldwide, about four times as much as that caused by unintentional injuries, according to a study of data from the World Health Organization.

The study researchers added up years of healthy living that were lost due to a disability and death. The Los Angeles Times reports that the study found alcohol accounted for 7 percent of lost healthy years. The article notes that the study is the first of its kind to give a comprehensive picture of young people’s global health. (Source: Join Together, 06/08/11)

Since the term was coined about 40 years ago, fetal alcohol syndrome has slowly become recognized as a public health issue. Alicestine October reports from South Africa’s Western Cape province, which has the highest reported rate in the world.
“When I was pregnant with my son I drank a lot – mostly on weekends,” says Marion Williams, a 45-year-old mother who lost two of her five children in childbirth.
Williams lives in one of South Africa’s famous wine-growing areas in the Western Cape. She started drinking as a teenager and was taken out of school, she suspects, to work to buy wine for her parents. … (Source: Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2011;89:398–399. doi:10.2471/BLT.11.020611)

Aims: In Brazil, a new law introduced in 2008 has lowered the blood alcohol concentration limit for drivers from 0.06 to 0.02, but the effectiveness in reducing traffic accidents remains uncertain. This study evaluated the effects of this enactment on road traffic fatalities and injuries…
Measurements: Data on injuries and deaths caused by road traffic accidents in both regions were collected from January 2001 to June 2010, comprising a total of 1,417,087 injuries and 51,561 fatalities.
Findings: The new traffic law was responsible for significant reductions in traffic injuries and fatalities rates in both localities (P < 0.05). A stronger effect was observed for traffic fatalities (-7.2 and -16.0% in the average monthly rate in the State and capital, respectively) compared to traffic injuries rates (-1.8 and -2.3% in the State and capital, respectively). Conclusions: Lowering the blood alcohol concentration limit in Brazil had a greater impact on traffic fatalities than injuries, with a higher effect in the capital where presumably the police enforcement was enhanced. Comment: Effectiveness uncertain? But „responsible for significant reductions in traffic injuries and fatalities rates in both localities“. ?