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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)

The Makati Business Club welcomes the initiative to reform excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol products, which would allow the government to optimize its revenue potential and create a strong disincentive for excessive tobacco and alcohol use.

We especially support the restructuring of the excise tax system from a multi-tiered structure to a unitary excise tax structure for tobacco and alcohol. This will effectively improve equity across cigarette and alcohol brands, promote market-based pricing in the industry, and encourage the entry of legitimate competition. It will also demonstrate the country’s commitment to open and fair competition, as well as its respectful compliance to international agreements.

We further push for the elimination of the price classification freeze so the government is free to levy competitive excise tax rates on tobacco and alcohol products. We believe that the current system has eroded the tax base, costing the Philippine government a substantial amount of foregone revenue. To address this loophole, we urge lawmakers to raise the excise tax rates and burden of tobacco and alcohol products, taking inflation into account yearly, to adequately reflect the negative externalities of consuming these goods. ….
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/05/12) mbc.com, 05/02/12

Drinking too much alcohol can take a heavy toll, not only on a person’s health but also on his or her family relationships and work or school performance. Alcohol consumption can lead to alcohol dependence and abuse, contribute to a number of diseases and mental and behavioral disorders, and may lead to a range of injuries. In addition, drinkers and their families are subject to social harm, such as family disruption, problems at the workplace (including unemployment), criminal convictions, and financial problems. They also encounter higher health care and related costs. …
(Source: Alcohol Alert Number 83, NIAAA)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is requiring 14 major alcoholic beverage producers to provide information about their online marketing. The FTC will use the information for a study that will guide recommendations on how the alcohol industry should regulate itself, both online and offline.

The last time the FTC completed an alcohol marketing study was in 2008, using data from 2005, according to The Kansas City Star. That study found only 1.9 percent of alcohol marketing expenditures went toward Internet efforts.

The marketing landscape has changed dramatically since then, with a much greater emphasis on social media. For example, Bacardi has at least seven Facebook pages, with a total of 1.7 million fans, according to David Jernigan, Director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. He notes that Captain Morgan Rum has a video game app for iPhones. Many companies connect with consumers through Twitter. …
(Source: Join Together, 05/3/12)

Today, HEIDI – an internet based wiki that presents reliable and comparable data about health in the EU – has been launched by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health & Consumers. Although Heidi has been set up by the Commission, the content is written by European health experts – who are responsible for their contributions and can directly upload and edit information.

HEIDI stands for Health in Europe: Information and Data Interface. It is a dynamic tool that collects, updates and shares information about health in Europe, for example on health status, health determinants, systems and policies. Keep up-to-date by bookmarking the site!

The abundance of health data and indicators in the HEIDI wiki is constantly being added to and updated. The data can be sorted per year, by country and by region, allowing at-a-glace comparisons across the years and between Member States and regions in the EU. For a selection of health topics, the tool allows for the data to be presented in a variety of graphs – line chart, bar chart, map chart and table chart.

For more information on EU health indicators:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/indicators/policy/index_en.htm

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)

Contemporary Swedes drink significantly more alcohol and eat more meat since the country joined the European Union in 1995, according to a new report by the Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket).

„With regards to alcoholic drinks and meat, the liberalisation of imports and price developments have contributed to increased consumption,“ the board explained in a statement.

One of the key points of negotiation during Sweden’s EU membership application process concerned the issue of the state-controlled alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget.

Sweden secured the right to retain the monopoly until 2004 after which time import restrictions were eased for private individuals. The board’s report notes that the easing of import restrictions has led to an increase in consumption. The report shows that the consumption of alcoholic beverages increased by 56 percent from 1995 to 2009, primarily of high-alcohol beer and wine.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News 18/2012) thelocal.se, 04/28/12

FLASH REPORT FROM THE CHAIR – PLENARY MEETING OF 26 APRIL 2012
The 10th Plenary meeting of the European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF) took place on 26 April 2012 in Brussels. The topic of the forum was
responsible marketing.

The session focussed on responsible marketing started with a brief overview of ongoing activities and commitments to action under the Forum. Results from three studies financed from the EU Health Programme were then presented. …
(Source: EU, 04/30/12)

Countries need to recognize that alcohol consumption is a big and growing public health threat and take appropriate action, experts concluded at a WHO regional meeting on the prevention and control of the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through reduction of alcohol-related harm.

WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-soo opened the four-day meeting on 10 April by calling alcohol a „chief culprit“ behind the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases, which accounts for four out of every five deaths in the Western Pacific. …
Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/24/12) wpro.who.int, 19 April 2012

TELL L.A. City Public Safety Committee to Stop Sitting on the Motion to Ban Alcohol Ads on Public Property. Last summer, with your help, we banned alcohol ads from 6,000 bus benches in the City of Los Angeles. Now let’s ban alcohol ads completely from all Los Angeles public property.

Councilmember Richard Alarcón introduced a motion to ban alcohol ads city-wide last year, but the Public Safety Committee is refusing to bring the motion forward.
It’s time to mobilize, and organize to protect our children from „city-authorized“ alcohol ads!

SEND your letter to the L. A. Public Safety Committee Telling them to MOVE THE MOTION to Ban Alcohol Ads from All L.A Public Property!
TAKE ACTION NOW (Source: Alcohol Justice, 04/19/12)