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Monitoring Alcohol Marketing in Africa – MAMPA Project is a new report released by the Africa Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO). The study on alcohol marketing was commissioned by the WHO Regional Office for Africa in 2010. The background was an intention to support governments decide on what measures to take regarding alcohol advertising. In order to inform such decisions insight into the impact of advertising, specifically in terms of volume, frequency, and content of alcohol advertising and promotion is essential. …
Among the recommendations of the report is for governments to recognize that a comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship would reduce alcohol-related harm, and that selfregulation is an ineffective mechanism to reduce alcohol related harm, effective legislation is necessary to strictly regulate alcohol marketing activities. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/20/11) WHO-Report, 06/20/11

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

Campaign recognition among young people at a music festival who report risky drinking.
The Australian Government launched a mass media campaign in 2009 to raise awareness of the harms and costs associated risky drinking among young Australians. The aim of this study was to assess if young people attending a music festival who report frequent risky single occasions of drinking (RSOD) recognise the key message of the campaign, „Binge drinking can lead to injuries and regrets“, compared to young people who report less frequent RSOD.
Conclusions: Whilst a high proportion of the target group recognised the campaign, our analysis suggests that participants that reported frequent RSOD – and thus the most important group to target – had statistically significantly lower odds of recognising the campaign message. (Source: BMC, Public Health, 06/20/11) Comment: Who wonders?

Analysis of a National Samplestar.
This study examined patterns and correlates of protective drinking behaviors among incoming first-year college students.
Incoming first-year students (N = 76,882) from 258 colleges across the U.S. provided baseline data on demographics, drinking practices, and protective behaviors as part of a web-based alcohol education program. Across the several colleges, responses to protective behavior questions were collected from seven weeks before the start of the school year to five weeks after. …
Conclusions: College students increase risky drinking after the start of school while progressively using fewer behaviors that might mitigate the consequences of drinking. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/18/11) sciencedirect.com, 06/15/11

Correcting Mortality Data from Kaunas (Lithuania).
To assess the proportion of deaths assigned to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) which in fact were caused by the toxic effects of alcohol, and how this may affect the official statistics of mortality from IHD in Lithuania. …
A significant number of alcohol-attributable deaths in Lithuania were misclassified as coronary deaths, accounting for almost one-tenth of officially registered deaths from IHD in ages 25–64. A high prevalence of positive post-mortem blood or urine alcohol tests suggests that the proportion of alcohol-related deaths among out-of-hospital IHD deaths may be actually even higher. A similar situation may be present in some other countries where high levels of alcohol consumption and binge drinking patterns are observed. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/18/11)

Important informations on alcohol politics. Issued June 19, 2011 Content:
News From Eurocare Members – News From the EU – News From the WHO – News from across Europe – News From Around the World – Upcoming events – Questions from MEPs

After 21 years of valuable service to Eurocare, Dr. Michel Craplet from ANPAA resigned from his post as Chairman of the organization. The former vice Chairman of Eurocare, Ms. Tiziana Codenotti was elected to be the new president. The General Assembly elected as well a new Board. … (Source: Eurocare Newsletter May – June 2011)

In 2008 the Lithuanian Parliament accepted an amendment to the Alcohol Control Law that would install a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising in the year 2012. Now with only 6 months left the pressure to withdraw the ban is steadily rising. The alcohol industry has stepped up its lobbying activities and politicians are backing out.
The Lithuanian National Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition reports that Sven Langeneckert, Vice President of the Carlsberg Group traveled to Lithuania to convince the prime minister why the total ban must be stopped. Lietuvos Rytas, a Lithuanian newspaper
even quoted the Carlsberg Vice President as saying that the company would leave the country if the ban would come into force. Such a withdrawal could possibly have a severe impact on the Lithuanian economy as Carlsberg owns the countries’ leading brewery
Svyturys-Utenos Alus. The quote was later denied by Carlsberg, stating that ‘Mr Langeneckert’s words were misinterpreted’, and that the group would not withdraw from Lithuania’. (Source: Eucam, 06/17/11) Comment: In other countries the parliament not even dares to accept such a law.

This study differs from other research: it develops evidence of how different domains of influence work together, understanding their relative importance in tackling different patterns of drinking among different groups.
The study involved a survey of 5,700 teenagers aged 13–14 (Year 9) and 15–16 (Year 11) in schools in England and data was statistically modelled to highlight the strongest influences on and predictors of young people’s drinking. (Source: Alcohol Reports: 06/17/11)

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Örebro prevention program (ÖPP), an alcohol misuse prevention programme that aims to reduce youth drinking by changing parental behaviour. Cluster-randomized trial, with schools randomly assigned to the ÖPP or no intervention.
Forty municipal schools in 13 counties in Sweden. 1752 students in the 7th grade and 1314 parents were assessed at baseline. Students‘ follow-up rates in the 8th and 9th grades were 92.1% and 88.4% respectively. …
The Örebro prevention programme as currently delivered in Sweden does not appear to reduce or delay youth drunkenness. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/17/11)