www.alkoholpolitik.ch

A Panorama feature this week explored the issue of „Britain’s hidden alcoholics“ and is available on BBC iplayer until 4th March 2012.

The programme is an account from Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former spokesman, on ‚the British middle class’s troubled relationship with alcohol and his own long and complicated history with drink.‘ A supporting article is available to read here.

Alastair Campbell meets some of the increasing number of Britain’s middle-class professionals for whom one glass of wine after work is never enough, and asks if we all need to reassess our relationship with drink.

Alastair, Tony Blair’s former closest advisor, knows from bitter experience the true cost of excessive boozing: his alcoholism contributed to his nervous breakdown. …
(Source: alcoholpolicy.net, 02/21/12)

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

Abstract: Aims To review research literature and available information on the extent and impacts of marketing, current policy response and the interests engaged in the policy debate in order to inform recommendations for policy change on alcohol marketing.

Methods; Relevant literature, including systematic reviews and publicly available information (websites and participant observation) is reviewed and synthesized.

Results: Alcohol marketing has expanded markedly in the past 50 years and, while there remains uncertainty about the impact across the population, there is now clear evidence of its impact on the consumption of young people. Few countries have effective policy in place restricting alcohol marketing, and there is a lack of an international response to alcohol marketing which crosses national boundaries. The protection of alcohol marketing has been a major focus for vested interest groups and this has affected governmental response at national and international levels. There has been a lack of non-governmental organization engagement. The policy response to tobacco marketing provides a clear contrast to that of alcohol marketing policy and provides a model for alcohol marketing policy.

Conclusion: The global exposure of young people to alcohol marketing requires an urgent policy response. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides an appropriate model for global governance to control alcohol marketing. There are extant examples of national level legislation achieving comprehensive bans with France’s Loi Evin providing a feasible model. Resources from philanthropic organizations to allow non-governmental organization engagement are urgently required, as is engagement by the governmental sector independent of commercial influence. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/13/12) onlinelibrary.wiley.com, 02/08/12

Alcohol and Youth in Africa, Asia and Europe
Also in this issue:

Alcohol Policy Youth Network / Nigerian Alcohol Prevention Youth Initiative / The IFMSA and the European Alcohol and Health Forum / Jyothirgamaya: Spreading the light of awareness by Ms Deepa Nair / “Alcohol-free Boat Races: the role of youth networks and social campaigns to change social attitudes on alcohol” / Alcohol and the young brain: girls at especial risk? / Teenage alcohol consumption associated with computer use / Alcohol and Unsafe Sex / Cigarette and alcohol use at historic low among US teens / Transatlantic Cooperation to combat underage drinking

New Article Documents Alcohol Industry’s Vested Interests in State Regulation
In a peer-reviewed article in the February 2012 issue of Addiction, Sarah Mart, director of research at Alcohol Justice, has documented the alcohol industry’s excessive involvement in the annual National Conference of State Liquor Administrators (NCSLA) that took place in June 2010. More than two-thirds (72%) of the 187 meeting attendees, and 65% of the panelists, were from the alcohol industry. The rest represented state alcohol control systems and federal government agencies. Mart was the only participant representing public health policy. “Big Alcohol panelists sent regulators a warning message: Be industry-friendly. Don’t rock the boat of commerce with public health concerns, or your job may be on the line,” reported Mart. “The Federal officials that were present also spoke about supporting the industry, instead of protecting public safety.” Click here for the press release, and email info@alcoholjustice.org to request the full article.
(Source: Newsletter Alcohol Justice, 01/25/12)

Dipak K. Das, the University of Connecticut researcher who studied the link between aging and a substance found in red wine has committed more than 100 acts of data fabrication and falsification, the university said on January 11, 2012, throwing much of his work into doubt. Das, who directed the university’s Cardiovascular Research Center, studied resveratrol, touted by a number of scientists and companies as a way to slow aging or remain healthy as people get older. Among his findings, according to a work promoted by the University of Connecticut in 2007, was that ‚the pulp of grapes is as heart-healthy as the skin, even though the antioxidant properties differ.‘

„We have a responsibility to correct the scientific record and inform peer researchers across the country,“ Philip Austin, the university’s interim vice president for health affairs, said in a statement.

The university said an anonymous tip led to an investigation that began in 2008. A 60,000-page report — the summary of which is available at — resulted, outlining 145 counts of fabrication and falsification of data. Other members of Das‘ laboratory may have been involved, and are being investigated, the report continues. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/18/12) reuters.com, 01/12/12
Comment: Is this the turning point? Will the medias act?

University of Connecticut News, 01/11/12: Scientific Journals Notified Following Research Misconduct Investigation

A new study provides clues about the brain mechanisms that drive people to abuse alcohol. The study found a link between how good people feel after they drink, and the amount of endorphins—proteins with opiate-like effects—released in their brain.

Similar findings have been seen in animal studies, but this is the first time they have been observed in humans, according to a news release by the University of California, San Francisco, where the research was conducted. “This is something that we’ve speculated about for 30 years, based on animal studies, but haven’t observed in humans until now,” said lead author Jennifer Mitchell, PhD. “It provides the first direct evidence of how alcohol makes people feel good.”

Researchers studied 15 volunteers; 13 were heavy social drinkers and 12 were not. Women were considered heavy social drinkers if they consumed 10 to 16 drinks a week, while men in that category had 14 to 20 drinks weekly, CNN reports. Women who were not heavy social drinkers had fewer than five drinks a week, while the men had fewer than seven drinks. …
(Source: Join Together, 01/13/12)
Medical News Today, 01/13/12

Abstract:
Aims: Minimum alcohol prices in British Columbia have been adjusted intermittently over the past 20 years. The present study estimates impacts of these adjustments on alcohol consumption.
Design: Time series and longitudinal models of aggregate alcohol consumption with price and other economic data as independent variables.
Setting: British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Measurements: Data on alcohol prices and sales for different beverages were provided by the BC Liquor Distribution Branch for 1989 to 2010. Data on household income were sourced from Statistics Canada.
Findings: Longitudinal estimates suggest that a 10% increase in the minimum price of an alcoholic beverage reduced its consumption relative to other beverages by 16.1% (P<0.001). Time series estimates indicate that a 10% increase in minimum prices reduced consumption of spirits and liqueurs by 6.8% (P=0.004), wine by 8.9% (P=0.033), alcoholic sodas and ciders by 13.9% (P=0.067), beer by 1.5% (P=0.043) and all alcoholic drinks by 3.4 % (P=0.007).
Conclusions: Increases in minimum prices of alcoholic beverages can substantially reduce alcohol consumption.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/10/12) Full Report (pdf)

An article in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization raises concerns regarding conflict of interest in a partnership where SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer by sales volume, receive funding from the Global Fund for a HIV/AIDS prevention project in drinking establishements in South Africa.
„No conflict of interest“ replies the Global Fund.
The recent issue of Bulletin of the World Health Organization carries a round table section: „Global Fund collusion with liquor giant is a clear conflict of interest. The First article is by Richard Matzopoulos, Charles DH Parry, Joanne Corrigall, Jonny Myers, Sue Goldstein and Leslie London. They describe how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) has recently included SABMiller as a recipient of funding for an education intervention aimed at minimizing alcohol-related harm, including HIV prevention, among men in drinking establishments.The authors think Global Fund support for this initiative is cause for concern.

The article discusses whether men in drinking establishments are the best target group for the intervention, whether a drinking establishment is the best location, and whether the educational intervention itself is effective. Their experience is that the liquor industry is inclined to support alcohol interventions that will not affect drinking rates at a population level. These interventions allow the industry to simultaneously fulfil social and legal obligations to address the harmful use of alcohol while ensuring that sales and profits are maintained.

Providing funding for a highly profitable industry that could afford to fund its own interventions also reduces the funds available for less well-resourced organizations.

Ask the authors: „Do we take it that the problem of “corporate capture” has now spread to one of the largest health funders in the world?“ …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/08/12) add-recources.org, 01/05/12
Comment: At least the industry accepted the role of alcohol regarding HIV.

Scientific Opinion of the Science Group of the European Alcohol and Health Forum

From the Foreword: The enormous burden of individual harm (often to those around the problem drinker as well as the drinker themselves) and aggregated lost productivity that are highlighted in the report should make it clear to all that inactivity is not an option and complacency will cost lives. We owe it to the populations we serve to use every opportunity that is founded in sound evidence to preserve and improve health and this report should lay the foundations of applying this to the workplace. But the workplace cannot be taken in isolation: just as work affects health and wellbeing beyond the workplace, so do many factors outside work, such as the price, availability and marketing of alcohol, or access to social programs and general healthcare reflect back on the health of the workforce. The Science Group believes that the European Commission across its various directorates has the potential to be a vital catalyst for good practice in this two-way process.
Professor Ian Gilmore
Chair, Science Group
From the Summary:
Impact of alcohol on the workplace and productivity
Globally, alcohol is the world’s number one risk factor for ill-health and premature death amongst the 25-59 year old age group, the core of the working age population. It is unsurprising, therefore that lost productivity costs feature as the dominant element in social costs studies arising from the harm done by alcohol (contributing to one half or more of the
total social costs). Becoming unemployed worsens alcohol-related harm, and heavy drinking, itself, leads to unemployment. Alcohol is a significant risk factor for absenteeism and presenteeism at work, largely in a dose response manner, with a relationship between societal and individual level of alcohol consumption and sickness absence. Although some studies have reported a positive impact of alcohol consumption on earnings, a proxy measure of productivity, a meta-analysis of relevant studies suggested that the relationship was an artefact. Often forgotten is the impact of drinkers on the productivity of people other than the drinker. An Australian study found this to be comparable in cost size as the lost
productivity costs of the drinkers themselves. The work place itself also impacts on alcoholrelated harm. Certain occupations (in particular bar staff and sea workers) are at particular risk, and, in general, stressful working environments increase the risk of alcohol-related harm.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 12/18/11) ec.europa.eu, Sept. 2011
Comment: This report should be taken into account by all industrial leaders and governments. Especially interesting the part about the role of abstainers. It’s the same „artefact“ as we see in studies on alcohol and health.