www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The rumours were true; the new Government Alcohol Strategy: Choice, Challenge and Responsibility confirms minimum pricing is to be brought in for England. Although the unit price is still to be set, in a press release the Prime Minister said „if it is 40p that could mean 50,000 fewer crimes each year and 9,000 fewer alcohol related deaths over the next decade.“

Al201103-coverThe strategy sets out key policies including:

a minimum unit price for alcohol;
banning the sale of multi-buy discount deals;
zero tolerance of drunken behaviour in A&E departments;
a late night levy to get pubs and clubs helping to pay for policing; and
improved powers to stop serving alcohol to drunks.

The strategy sets itself out as a plan to reduce binge-drinking in a bid to drive down crime and tackle health issues. The decision to introduce a minimum unit price means that alcohol will not be allowed to be sold below a fixed price per unit – a policy advocated by health groups and Alcohol Concern for a number of years. As the release states, it „will put an end to cheap white ciders, spirits and super-strength lagers“. It is expected to go out for consultation, with a possible introduction by 2014.

Launching the strategy, the Prime Minister said:

“When beer is cheaper than water, it’s just too easy for people to get drunk on cheap alcohol at home before they even set foot in the pub.

“[Minimum pricing] isn’t about stopping responsible drinking, adding burdens on business or some new kind of stealth tax – it’s about fast immediate action where universal change is needed.

“And let’s be clear. This will not hurt pubs. A pint is two units. If the minimum price is 40p a unit, it won’t affect the price of a pint. In fact, pubs may benefit by making the cheap alternatives in supermarkets more expensive.

“Of course, I know this won’t be universally popular. But the responsibility of being in government isn’t always about doing the popular thing. It’s about doing the right thing.

(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 03/23/12)
our online-comment: Let’s hope the minimum price will be high enough and that the EU accepts it.
For a conservative government this is a strong signal. Other countries should follow.

See also comment by Eurocare, with which we fully agree.
See also „How significant is a minimum unit price for alcohol of 40p?“ by The Institute For Fiscal Studies.

Plans for a minimum unit price for alcohol have been approved in principle by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish government’s alcohol bill passed its first major parliamentary hurdle without opposition, by 86 votes to nil, with 32 abstentions on Wednesday afternoon.
After a debate at Holyrood, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats supported the legislation, while Labour abstained. …

The Scottish government said it accepted that minimum pricing was not a „magic bullet“ but was an important part of its strategy.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon told Holyrood that decisive action must be taken to „stem the flow of cheap high-strength drink“. „The link between price and consumption, and between consumption and harm, is irrefutable”. She added: „It’s not some sort of magic bullet that will solve all of our nation’s problems with alcohol. However, it is essential if we are to make a significant contribution to reducing consumption.“
Ms Sturgeon promised she would announce what the minimum price per unit would be before Holyrood’s final vote on the legislation later in this parliament. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 03/19/12) bbc.co.uk, 03/14/12

Alcohol consumption affects the health and well being of people in the United States in many negative ways: drunk driving, violent crime, spousal and child abuse, and diseases such as liver cirrhosis and cancer.

Though these problems often result from underage drinking, binge drinking, and alcoholism, even moderate alcohol consumption can contribute to health problems, especially various forms of cancer.

If consumers knew the nutritional value of the alcohol they are about to consume, they might make better choices and help reduce the risks of consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority and is about to finalize a new rule on national nutrition labeling standards for restaurant menus that should include alcohol. At the moment it does not.

Let’s tell President Obama that considering all the health and societal harms associated with alcohol consumption, it’s time to direct his administration to include alcohol in the final restaurant labeling rule to best inform consumers so they can make healthier choices.

Email this Alert to a Friend — TAKE ACTION
(Source: Alcohol Justice, 03/12/12)

A free special edition of the Drug and Alcohol Review journal has been released exploring the evidence and reasons behind low risk drinking guidelines.

The special edition includes commentaries from Professor Nick Heather on the importance of drinking guidelines and a critical perspective from Sally Casswell who asks why have guidelines at all.

The issue comes shortly after a the Science and Technology Committee review into UK guidelines, from which MPs called for greater efforts to help the public understand alcohol guidelines.

The Government recently released a new Change4Life alcohol campaign warning against the risks of regularly exceeding the recommended guidelines.
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 03/06/12)

A special committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies is expected to vote Tuesday on the “General Law of the Cup” (“Lei Geral da Copa”), but relations between the government and the head of the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) have completely melted down after macho comments by Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. Last month, Valcke stated “Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we’re going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that’s something we won’t negotiate.”

Valcke caused an explosive response in Brazil when he stated on Friday: “You have to push yourself, get a kick up the backside and just deliver this World Cup.“ That arrogant comment led to a powerful response by Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo on Saturday, „In light of these statements, which are inadequate and unacceptable comments for any type of relationship, the Brazilian government… no longer accepts Secretary-General Valcke as an interlocutor.“ Brazilian presidential adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia added fuel to the fire Sunday, calling Valcke a loudmouth and a bum (“boquirroto” and “vagabundo”).

In an effort to reduce alcohol-related sports violence and protect public health in general, alcohol sales have been banned from football stadiums in Brazil since 2003. A World Health Organization study that included Brazil showed that about 46% of violent incidents seen in the emergency room were related to alcohol use. …
(Source: Alcohol Justice, 03/06/12)
See also press release by IOGT-International

PS Unfortunately, the special committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has accepted the “General Law of the Cup”. It’s a shame! Now it is up to the parliament.

Up to 210,000 people in England and Wales will be killed prematurely by alcohol over the next 20 years, with a third of those preventable deaths due to liver disease alone, health experts warned Monday.

Other alcohol-related deaths will be due to accidents, violence and suicide, or from chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease and cancer, the experts warned in a projection study in the Lancet medical journal.

Yet Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and one of the lead authors of the work, said it was „entirely within the power of the UK government“ to take steps to tackle Britain’s drink problem and „prevent the worst-case scenario of avoidable deaths.“

The experts pointed to measures taken in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s, which they said saw alcohol consumption fall by a third in two years with a resulting 12 percent drop in the rate of alcohol-related deaths.

The warning comes after British Prime Minister David Cameron promised last week to crack down on excessive drinking, calling it a „scandal“ that costs the taxpayer-funded National Health System an estimated 2.7 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) a year. …
(Source: Harvard World Health News, 02/23/12) reuters.com, 02/19/12

If people see news coverage of alcohol’s role in violent crime and fatal injuries, they may give more support to alcohol-control laws, according to a study in the March issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. It’s estimated that drinking is involved in almost one third of deaths from accidents and violent crime. But the news reports on those deaths often make no mention of alcohol.

„People have some awareness of the social cost that alcohol can have,“ said the study’s lead author, Michael D. Slater, Ph.D., of Ohio State University in Columbus. „But only a small fraction of news stories on violent crime and non–motor vehicle accidents acknowledge the contributing role of alcohol.“ As a result, many people may not realize how often drinking contributes to accidents off the roadways, as well as to violence, Slater noted.

And that lack of awareness might dampen the public’s support for alcohol-control laws, such as the strict enforcement of underage-drinking laws or prohibitions on serving alcohol to intoxicated customers. …
(Source: Google alcohol news, 02/22/12) innovations-report.de, 02/22/12
Comment: It seems often as if it is the internal policy of medias not to show the role of alcohol. Uninformed people will not ask for stronger alcohol regulations. The alcohol industry is happy. We pay for the immense social costs and have the lack of quality of life.

When considering the world’s worst killers, alcohol likely doesn’t come to mind. Yet alcohol kills more than 2.5 million people annually, more than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.

For middle-income people, who constitute half the world’s population, alcohol is the top health risk factor, greater than obesity, inactivity and even tobacco.

The World Health Organization has meticulously documented the extent of alcohol abuse in recent years and has published solid recommendations on how to reduce alcohol-related deaths, but this doesn’t go far enough, according to Devi Sridhar, a health-policy expert at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

In a commentary appearing today (Feb. 15) in the journal Nature, Sridhar argues that the WHO should regulate alcohol at the global level, enforcing such regulations as a minimum drinking age, zero-tolerance drunken driving, and bans on unlimited drink specials. Abiding by the regulations would be mandatory for the WHO’s 194 member states.

Far from prohibition, the WHO regulations would force nations to strengthen weak drinking laws and better enforce laws already in place, Sridhar says. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 02/20/12)lifescience.com, 02/16/12

In a recent answer to a questions regarding minimum pricing by a Scottish MEP George Lyon, the European Commission has shed some light on the ongoing debates.

In response to the following question:

Can the Commission detail the existing treaty provisions and case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in relation to the ability of a Member State to introduce minimum pricing for alcoholic drinks?

The Commission stated that Council Directive 92/83/EEC of 19 October 1992 [1] does not prohibit Member States from setting minimum retail prices for alcoholic beverages.

The Commission further explained that a national measure of minimum pricing and its effects needs to be compatible with the Treaty (TFEU), including the rules on the free movement of goods (Articles 34-36) and on competition (Articles 101-102). …
(Source: Eurocare, 12/13/12)

Alcohol policy hit the headlines again this week with David Cameron talking tough on the „alcohol scandal“ costing the NHS close to £3 billion per year. Visiting a hospital in north-east England, the Prime Minister spoke of the unacceptable impact of public drunkenness on the NHS and police services across the country.

Cameron called for „innovative“ approaches including „drunk tanks“ to divert the intoxicated from busy A&Es, and for further enforcement from police to tackle alcohol-fuelled disorder. However the Police Federation criticised the calls saying they are already struggling to resource existing workloads.

The Prime Minister has attracted support from health groups for highlighting the issue of cheap alcohol as part of the problem. Cameron has previously sparked speculation that the Government will seek to introduce minimum pricing in the forthcoming national alcohol strategy.

However in truth the strategy is unlikely to set out direct pricing measures beyond the below cost ban due later this year, which is not expected to affect prices under a ‚Duty + VAT‘ definition of cost. But the Government is likely to continue to pursue taxation measures as already outlined and advised by the IFS, but strongly opposed by the on-trade.

Speaking on the issue, Cameron said:
„We are going to look at the issue of pricing. I am quite convinced that there’s deep discounting through supermarkets and sometimes convenience stores of alcohol that is causing part of the problem, but we’re looking at this carefully to try and find the right answer.

The issue has attracted widespread media attention. Channel 4 news explored the alcohol policy issue, highlighting conflicts between alcohol industry voices opposing minimum pricing instead in favour of education – an approach often rejected by health groups as ineffective. A Guardian comment also explored alcohol policy tensions, highlighting the controversial Responsibility Deal and Scotland’s determination to secure minimum pricing and test EU law on the issue. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/16/12) alcoholpolicy.net, 02/16/12