www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Nationwide Insurance have launched „The Power of Parents, It’s Your Influence by MADD(™)“ to give parents of high school students the communication tools they need to stop teen alcohol use. The program features resources at www.thepowerofparents.org.
A GfK Roper Youth Report showed 74% of kids (age 8-17) said their parents are the leading influence on their decisions about drinking. Data also shows that a zero tolerance message from parents to teens is the most effective in deterring underage drinking and it also supports the lifesaving 21 drinking age law, which is in all 50 states. (View the multimedia news release) (Source: Join Together, 11/5/09)

Global life expectancy could be increased by nearly five years by addressing five factors affecting health – childhood underweight, unsafe sex, alcohol use, lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene, and high blood pressure, according to a report published by WHO on 27 October.
„Global health risks“ is a comprehensive assessment of leading risks to global health. It provides detailed global and regional estimates of premature mortality, disability and loss of health attributable to 24 global risk factors.
In a press release WHO draws attention to the combined effect of multiple risk factors. Many deaths and diseases are caused by more than one risk factor and may be prevented by reducing any of the risk factors responsible for them. WHO press release // Full report

„Alcohol is a factor in the deaths of one in seven young people, kills 3430 people a year and causes accidents and injury that put 80,000 Australians into hospital annually. A report released by the National Drug Research Institute last month showed that, while alcohol-related deaths were decreasing, hospital admissions had risen by a third over the past decade. ‚Every week, on average, risky or high-risk drinking is killing more than 60 Australians and putting another 1500 people — the equivalent of a small town — in hospital, owing to injury or disease that is entirely preventable,‘ the National Drug Research Institute associate professor Tanya Chikritzhs said. According to the National Preventative Health Taskforce Report, released this month, alcohol abuse costs the Australian economy $15 billion a year. The highest cost factors were loss of life ($4.135 billion), workforce reduction and absenteeism ($3.579 billion) and road accidents ($2.202 billion).“ (Source: Harvard World Health News, 10/29/09) The Sydney Morning Herald, 10/25/09 Comment: Interesting figures for passive-drinkers, for all of us.

Interesting news on alcohol politics within EU and WHO. (Switzerland incl.)

As requested by the Swedish Presidency, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has presented its views on alcohol-related harm in European society. The EESC calls for stricter controls on alcohol marketing and pricing policies in order to reduce problems associated with alcohol consumption.
These measures are aimed at reducing the proportion of people estimated to drink harmful levels of alcohol in the EU, which currently amounts to 15% of the adult population, as well as protecting children from its consequences. … EESC Press release Nr 127/2009, 10/6/09. The full text of these opinions will soon be available in all EU languages on http://eesc.europa.eu/documents/opinions/avis_en.asp

The costs of drinking and driving are all too apparent, with alcohol involved in 41 percent of all motor vehicle crash fatalities in 2006. In addition to the mortality and morbidity associated with drinking and driving, the economic impact of alcohol impaired driving is considerable, estimated at $51 billion, with medical costs accounting for 15 percent of that figure. Now a new study from the Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital has found that even minimally injured alcohol-impaired drivers account for higher emergency department (ED) costs than other drivers. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/7/09)

When the Swedish brewer organisation and The Brewers of Europe spread misleading information about the restrictive Swedish alcohol policy by buying entire pages in daily newspapers to „inform“ about results from a report they themselves had financed, UNF reported them to the ombudsman for advertising for providing misinformation and targeting young people with one page alcohol ads. It’s another exclamation mark in UNF’s series of action to point on the immoral conduct of the alcohol industry. (Source: Active newsletter October 2009, not online) order newsletter: office@
activeeurope.org

5th Meeting of 19 October 2009 – Agenda (draft) pdf

Since its debut five years ago, Facebook has grown exponentially to include colleges and universities, high school and business networks, along with the general public around the globe. In that same time, Facebook also changed its advertising policies and regulations from not offering online advertising to soliciting paid advertisements for products and services including alcohol products. Although the company’s policy requires paid advertisements for alcohol to include age restrictions, the policy is not enforced by Facebook, nor does the restriction requirement apply to other sources of alcohol content throughout Facebook. For this article, we explored the prevalence of alcohol-related content found in popular aspects of Facebook profiles. We also identified aspects of Facebook that contain a great deal of alcohol content and are accessible by anyone, regardless of age. We offer recommendations for both Facebook and the alcohol industry to remove paid ads and other types of content promoting alcohol products and dangerous drinking behaviors in order to protect youth and young adults from the harmful effects of alcohol advertising. (Source: Marin Institute, ) The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice (Source: Join Together, 10/8/09)

The newest website for parents who want to raise drug-free kids just got even better.
Stop by the brand new Get Informed section of StraightDopeForParents.org for a wealth of user-friendly, research-based tools that complement Joseph A. Califano Jr.’s new book, How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents. In Get Informed, you’ll find online tips and downloadable fact sheets for parents on many topics. (Source: Join Together, 9/23/09)