www.alkoholpolitik.ch

In Focus
Launch of Eurocare recommendations for a future EU alcohol strategy
Estonia is developing an alcohol policy green paper

News from Eurocare
Actis (Norway): The Government says no to curbing serving hours
Alcohol and Society (Denmark) challenges Carlsberg over the promotion of alcohol in Denmark
Alcohol Focus Scotland: Scottish policy developments
SLAN (Sweden): Summer updates

News from the European Union Institutions
Presentations from the 10th meeting of the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action
EU Health Programme – Annual report 2010
Health-EU Portal survey ….

News from across Europe

New research and reports

Upcoming events
(Source: Eurocare, 06/19/12)

Results from the project Alcohol Marketing Monitoring in Europe (AMMIE) stress the need to implement a ban on sport sponsorship of alcohol brands in Europe. The project clearly shows that popular sports like football are heavily sponsored by alcohol brands, which is also the case with the UEFA Championship in Poland and Ukraine starting the coming weekend. – The AMMIE project shows how sport is being sponsored intensively by alcohol producers and that a ban is clearly needed, says Wim van Dalen, coordinator of AMMIE and Director of STAP – Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy.

More sponsoring, more drinking
Recent studies shows that sport events sponsored by the alcohol industry are associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption among the sport spectators compared to spectators at sporting events where the event is not sponsored by the alcohol industry. This is especially worrying when the UEFA Championship starts the coming weekend with Carlsberg as one of the main sponsors.

Many sport clubs sponsored by the drinks industry
The AMMIE project has made the first attempt to examine alcohol-branded sport sponsorship of the top clubs of the five most frequently performed sports teams in Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Until now there has been no data available that gives insight in the number of sport clubs that are sponsored by alcohol brands. AMMIE shows how this is widespread and should be paid more attention to. In AMMIE, national statistics were used to select the five most frequently performed sports teams in each country. Of these sports, the ten teams that play in the highest division are rated as top clubs. Of these 50 top clubs, the club websites have been scanned thoroughly for the presence of alcohol-branded sponsors. Following is data from each AMMIE country more detailed described.

Young people exposed
Although the sport events with the famous clubs are not exclusively viewed by youth, nonetheless children and adolescents represent a significant proportion of the general viewing public. In this regard, the message to youth is clear: sport and alcohol consumption is positive and fun and famous players support the very brands advertised. Alcohol consumption is therefore connected to the healthy image of sport activities, although it is, in reality, a causal factor in more than 60 different diseases and illnesses (WHO, 2007). …

Alcohol sponsor shapes the image of the club
AMMIE provide insight into the way sponsorships shape their contributions to popular sports and their clubs in the five countries studied. Not only does the presence of an alcohol brand sponsoring a sport club stand out, but also the role of this sponsor in shaping the image of the club. When alcohol producers sponsor a sport club, not only can their logo be found on their website, the stadium or sporting hall can be named after the alcohol brand and the alcoholic beverages of this brand can be sold on the website and/or within the sporting club (canteen/bar). In this way the alcohol brand attempts to associate itself with the sport, the sport club, its sportive success, the loyalty of its fans and its positive image in society.

For more information contact:
The Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy (STAP)
PO box 9769
3506 GT Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel: 0031 30 6565041/ 0031 6 53295544

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA and the Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA have published a declaration of the Swiss Health Foreign Policy. It was found in the Monthly e-Newsletter of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Link: (31 pages, pdf)
Comment:
page 7: „Safeguarding of interests and coherence
In both domestic and foreign policy, Switzerland has a variety of objectives to pursue. For example, Switzerland wishes to reconcile its commitment to a liberal economic order with the interests of solidarity and global health. In the measures designed to achieve these objectives, therefore, the greatest possible coherence should be sought, synergies should be developed, and inevitable conflicts of interests should be openly addressed and re-solved via the existing political decision-making mechanisms.“

Comment: In domestic policy Switzerland has big problems pursuing these objectives. Regarding alcohol policy the inevitable conflicts between the liberal economy and the interest of the people is not openly addressed. The existing political decision-making mechanisms are not working because of a sort of „alcohol-dependency“ of the majority of politicians.

page 12: „Area of interest 1: Governance
Since its establishment, WHO has been the key agency and dominant international forum for health issues, especially in the normative area. However, the last ten years have seen the emergence of a large number of new state, private and mixed institutions, which have rapidly developed into significant actors in the health field, sometimes with massive financial resources. As a result, the global health architecture has become more complex, and governance at the global level more difficult. Switzerland has a substantial interest in an improvement of the effectiveness of global and international health cooperation. It is therefore seeking to promote more coherent interaction among the relevant actors from the sectors of health, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, human rights and other health-related policy areas, be it at the bilateral level – especially in relations with the EU, but also in bilateral development cooperation –, in multilateral bodies or in the context of the WHO reform process. …“

Comment: It seems as if the coordination between the two departments doesn’t work so well. Switzerland signed the Resolution at the WHO General Assembly 2010 on a Global Alcohol Strategy. But the department of Home Affairs didn’t act accordingly. Very few people in Switzerland know about this resolution. The medias didn’t report. In the new Law on Alcohol which is going to parliament there are no articles with effective measures included as proposed in that resolution. Responsible for this law is the Department of Finance.(!) The WHO-Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases in 2011 didn’t reach the people either. If the „existing political decision-making mechanisms“ are dominated by the interests of the alcohol industry, the population has no chance getting better alcohol related harm reduction.

In Focus
Alcohol harms you, others and the society – why does Europe need an alcohol strategy? 27 June 2012, European Parliament, Brussels
Finland takes important steps to restrict alcohol marketing
News from Eurocare
Alcohol Focus Scotland: Minimum pricing
NordAN: Conference reminder
EHYT: Cannabis Connotations of an Alcohol Ad cause a stir in Finland
Eurocare Italy: Partnership between Diageo and Italian Automobile Club
DHS: Focus on alcohol and cancer
News from the European Union Institutions
Report from the Chair of the European Alcohol and Health Forum
Presentations from the High Level Conference on EU Health Programmes
Question from MEP: Alcohol consumption in Europe
Question from MEP: Benefits of red wine
Question from MEP: Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Question from MEP: Wine imports: possible tax increase and imposition of quotas
News from across Europe
Scottish minimum price at 50p per unit
Ireland – Minister to end alcohol sponsorship of sports
Germany – Public Transit Pub: Will Alcohol Bans Stop Party Trains?
News from the World Health Organization
World Health Statistics
New research and reports
ALICE RAP Policy Brief on alcohol: ‘Alcohol – the neglected addiction’
Study on the affordability of alcoholic beverages in the EU
Research shows high level of serving alcohol to inebriated customers
Call for Papers Special Issue on International Perspectives on Alcohol Control Policies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Upcoming Events ….
(Source: Eurocare, 25/05/2012)

The European Centre for Monitoring Alcohol Monitoring (EUCAM) has delivered a luke warm response to the Responsible Marketing Pact. The pact was trumpeted to be the first time that common standards would be implemented throughout the EU. The standards would protect young people from undue exposure to alcohol and prohibit marketing being directed at minors. The alcohol industry had claimed that self-regulation is working, and should be expanded.

However AMMIE (Alcohol Marketing Monitoring in Europe) at the EUCAM conference in March, warned against mere „window dressing“ and called for an outright ban on advertising. Their research showed that on average each minor in the 5 countries they researched (Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Bulgaria and Denmark) were exposed to 44 alcohol commercials in 2 months. They noted numerous violations of the 30% rule, whereby advertising should only be allowed where under 30% of the population are minors. In practice, they insist, there is nowhere in Europe where there is a population group consisting of more than 30% minors, meaning that alcohol advertising can go unchecked. …
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 05/22/12) EUCAM Newsletter May 2012

Three easy ways for a stronger, more just and freer Europe
Europe celebrates today the 62nd anniversary of the Schumann Declaration, the first move towards the European Union, which still faces an unprecedented economic, social and political crisis. Young Europeans and youth organizations are disproportionately exposed to the negative effects of this crisis.
But there are three simple and effective ways towards a stronger, fairer and freer Europe, as the European youth organization Active – sobriety, friendship and peace, through the President Andrea Lavesson is outlining today:

“The first one is stronger youth organizations in Europe to harness their role and power in protecting youth, combating the crisis and achieving the EU2020 targets and in promoting innovation and democracy.” …

“The second one is a new and better EU alcohol strategy to protect children and young people from the tremendous alcohol harm in Europe, to improve the productivity of the EU and to secure the European Social Model.” …

“A new and better EU alcohol strategy will contribute to making Europe more productive, protecting the Social Model and saving and improving the lives of young Europeans,” says Andrea Lavesson.

“And last but not least, the third one is a stronger commitment to making the Human Rights of children and youth in Europe a lived reality in policy making to prevent them from growing up in poverty.” …

(Source: Press Release Active, 05/9/12)

In Focus
Self-regulation is not an answer
AMMIE Final Report: European alcohol industry fails in protecting young people towards alcohol marketing
News from Eurocare
Actis: Loss of income if the pubs close one hour earlier

News from the European Union Institutions

News from across Europe

News from the World Health Organization

Upcoming events

(Source: Eurocare, 05/03/12)

Around 50 Norwegian municipalities currently have places that sell alcohol to three o’clock at night. If these pubs have to close the sale of alcohol an hour earlier, the income of each club will probably be reduced by around 10 percent, according to a new report from the Norwegian National Institute of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research (SIRUS).

– The main conclusion is that a one-hour reduction in the sales hours will reduce revenue per pint with an average of 9 to 12 percent, said SIRUS researcher Hans Olav Melberg.

– This is an average. Some restaurants and bars will experience a larger drop in sales, while others will experience a smaller effect, said Melberg.

The figures from the research are good news for all those who are working for an reduction of binge drinking and violence, says Sten Magne Berglund, Deputy Secretary General of Actis – a Norwegian Policy Network on alcohol and drugs. …
(Source: Eurocare Newsletter 4/2012)

Following the recent release of the Government Alcohol Strategy, here’s a selection of some of the comments and reaction.

Statements and responses

Alcohol Concern have released a short briefing responding directly to some of the specifics in the strategy, and also a press release which called for more public health spend on alcohol. It argues that alcohol remains the „Cinderella issue in competition with drugs, obesity, mental health and other issues“ and more than the current average 0.1% of PCT’s budgets must be invested in alcohol treatment and prevention. …
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 04/04/12)