www.alkoholpolitik.ch

This statistical report acts as a reference point for health issues relating to alcohol use and misuse, providing information obtained from a number of sources in a user-friendly format. It covers topics such as drinking habits and behaviours among adults (aged 16 and over) and school children (aged 11 to 15), drinking-related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol-related costs. The report contains previously published information and also includes additional new analyses. The new analyses are mainly obtained from The NHS Information Centre’s Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) system and Prescribing data. The report also include up to date information on the latest alcohol related government policies and targets and contains links to further sources of useful information. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/27/11) NHS Information Center, 2011

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed new regulations for nationwide menu labeling for restaurants. That’s a good thing. However, as currently proposed, alcoholic beverages are exempted. That is not a good thing.
Over-consumption of calories and poor nutrition is a serious public health problem. Alcoholic beverages are a significant source of calories in the American diet. Currently, drinkers have no way of knowing how many calories are in what they’re consuming.
With such information prominently displayed for all menu items, consumers can make better choices that can improve their health rather than harm it.
Please join Marin Institute and other concerned organizations and individuals in telling the FDA to require that restaurants inform customers of the caloric content of alcoholic beverages.
For more information and to read Marin Institute’s talking points: http://www.marininstitute.org/site/blog/38-blog-entries/629-tell-fda.html

MOSCOW — The World Health Organization focused for decades on infectious diseases, but now it’s putting non-communicable diseases near the top of its agenda.
The fight against heart disease, diabetes, stroke, lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease may not seem as heroic as the struggle against smallpox or H1N1, but chronic illnesses account for 63 percent of deaths worldwide — 70 percent in the United States and 90 percent in Russia.
“And these are preventable,” said Margaret Chan, director general of WHO, at a three-day series of meetings here this week devoted to chronic diseases. “People don’t have to suffer. People don’t have to die.”
No tobacco and less sugar, fat and especially salt are WHO’s top targets; reducing alcohol consumption and increasing exercise are right behind. Those factors alone account for 25 million of the 36 million deaths attributable to chronic diseases annually, according to WHO, and place a huge economic burden on families and nations. (Source: Harvard World Health News, 5/5/11) washingtonpost.com, 4/29/11

In a new report entitled The High Cost of Cheap Alcohol, Pam Erickson from the Campaign for a Healthy Alcohol Marketplace examines the public health dangers associated with low-cost alcohol availability. The report „is designed to educate the public about the alcohol regulatory system and how it works. It focuses on one of the most powerful tools available to control alcohol problems: price. Time and again, research has shown that when prices go up, alcohol consumption and its attendant social problems go down.“ (Source: Marin Institute, 5/4/11) Comment: Very interesting history of American alcohol policies.

There is an urgent need for a comprehensive and well funded global response to the activities of transnational corporations (TNCs) which are increasing global demand for alcohol by means of sophisticated supply and marketing techniques, and to the TNCs’ front organizations which are working to impede the development of effective policy.
Alcohol-related harm is a global issue requiring a strong global response. While some brands of alcohol retain local and national imagery, the reality, particularly for spirits and beer, and increasingly for wine, is very different. These are now the output of enormous transnational corporations, which for the past two decades have engaged in a process of consolidation and expansion, with the result that the global alcohol market is now dominated by a handful of large corporations. (by Sally Casswell, Auckland, one of the leading public health specialists on alcohol.) Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/2/11) onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Drivers in South Africa could soon be banned from drinking any alcohol at all before getting behind the wheel.
John Motsatsing, chief director of road transport regulation in the Department of Transport, said the government was seriously considering a zero alcohol limit for all drivers.
“Irrespective of how many drinks you’ve had, you cannot judge if you are over the alcohol limit, because you are not an expert,” he said. “So why can we not say no drinking at all if you are driving?
“We are going to do away with the alcohol limit. We are drafting a document and will put it out for public comment.”
At least 203 people were killed in road accidents during the Easter weekend, according The Road Traffic Management Corporation. It is estimated that almost half of all weekend motor vehicle crash victims at public hospitals are injured as a result of abuse of alcohol. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/2/11) iol.co.za, 5/1/11

DrugScope, the national membership organisation representing the drug sector, has today responded to the release of figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which show that 79,360 people who claim Incapacity Benefit (IB) have either a drug or alcohol dependency.
The DWP figures show that of the total number of IB claimants (2,082,570, figures from August 2010), 1.8 per cent (37,000) have a drug dependency and 2 per cent (42,360) an alcohol dependency. However, a drug or alcohol dependency alone would not make someone eligible to receive IB. Martin Barnes, Chief Executive of DrugScope, said:
„Most people with a drug or alcohol dependency also have physical or mental health problems which can affect their ability to work. While a drug or alcohol dependency can be extremely debilitating, it does not of itself give an entitlement or ‚passport‘ to benefit, which may be suggested by the publication of today’s figures. People with drug or alcohol problems must satisfy all the conditions for benefit entitlement, including proof of incapacity, and may be required to undergo a medical examination to determine eligibility. (Source: Medical News Today, 04/26/11)

A NORTH-EAST academic with a worldwide reputation in her field has criticised the Government for failing to back a cheap and effective method of curbing heavy drinking.
The UK is facing a deepening crisis over the availability of cheap booze but according to Professor Eileen Kaner of Newcastle University, the Government is missing a golden opportunity to start turning the tide.
It has been estimated that damage caused by drinking costs the country about £25bn every year in terms of costs to the NHS, the criminal justice system and the economy.
One in five people are drinking at dangerous levels and alcohol-related liver disease is claiming ever increasing numbers of young lives.
But Prof Kaner said past and present Governments had failed to back an inexpensive and successful form of counselling – called Brief Intervention – which has an impressive track record in helping people curb their drinking. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/25/11) thenorthernecho.co.uk, 04/24/11

The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature related to the measurement of the economic impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in different countries and to categorize the available literature. … Existing estimates of the economic impact of FASD demonstrate significant cost implications on the individual, the family and society. However, these estimates vary considerably due to the different methodologies used by different studies. Limitations and gaps in the existing methodologies of calculating the economic costs of FASD are discussed. It is evident that there is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive and sound methodology for calculating the economic impact of FASD to the society. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/22/11)

In a recent review, the CDC Task Force on Community Preventive Services concluded that privatizing alcohol sales is harmful to public health. The Task Force „recommends against the further privatization of alcohol sales in settings with current government control of retail sales, based on strong evidence that privatization results in increased per capita alcohol consumption, a well-established proxy for excessive consumption.“ (Source: Marin Institute, 04/20/11)