www.alkoholpolitik.ch

It may seem like binge drinking is just a fact of college life, but a number of institutions of higher-education are proving otherwise. Survey data show notable drops in student binge drinking at several colleges and universities, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Feb. 16. For example:
* Alcohol-related violations dropped 3.7 percent at North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D. over two years.
* Between 2007 and 2009, „problem drinking“ fell 12 percent at the University of Pittsburgh.
* The number of Purdue students who engaged in binge drinking sank from 48 percent in 2006 to 37.3 percent in 2009.
* Frostburg State University in Maryland saw binge drinking plummet 27% over the past decade. … (Source: Join Together, 03/07/11) with our Online-Comment: It is always better to invest in prevention instead of paying for negative results. If the alcohol free offers are a success, other students will try too.

Introducing a minimum price for alcohol in Northern Ireland is an important step in the prevention of suicide and self-harm, as well as addressing wider health and social issues the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland has said.
Dr Philip McGarry, Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland, welcomed the consultation into alcohol pricing launched today by Social Development Minister Alex Attwood and Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, but said the floor price must be set high enough to have a genuine impact on problem drinking. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/07/11)

A Cardiff University study has established a link between pub violence and happy hour-style drinking promotions.
The findings also show that pub staff themselves need to do more to stop heavily intoxicated customers from continuing to drink. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/07/11)

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania yesterday launched a nationwide campaign to tackle excessive drinking.The government’s initiative against irresponsible drinking has the backing of local brewers and is supported by international organisations with the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) being its major financier.
The campaign will mainly be conducted through radio programmes. The campaign, dubbed Chonde Chonde! Ulevi Noma! (Please, alcoholism is dangerous), is a six-month drive that will end in September this year.
“For example, people who drink excessively more often have unprotected sex than those who do not or those who drink responsibly. Tacaids (The Tanzania Commission for Aids) lists alcohol consumption as an important factor in HIV/Aids prevalence.”
According to the Tacaids HIV Prevention Strategy for Tanzania Mainland (2009), men who drink have an HIV prevalence rate that is three times higher than those who do not drink. The prevalence rate is twice higher among women who drink than those who don’t. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/08/11) thecitizen.co.tz, 03/03/11

Malawi now experiences a conflict over liquor sachets. Government and NGOs versus alcohol producers. Health versus profits. Also other countries in Africa face problems with the small plastic bags with strong liquor.
A few years ago a variety of small plastic sachets with 40 % spirits were introduced to the markets place in a number of African countries. Now problems have become very visible from the sale and use of such alcoholic beverages, in particular among the youth and the poor. This has resulted in public outcry and political discussions in an attempt to do something to the problem.
In Malawi there was an encouraging political process last year which aimed at banning the sale of liquor in plastic sachets. Now, as a result of a court decision, the process has stalled. Governments and NGOs have their hands tied up by the court injunction, while the strong liquor continues to be sold to minors, through legal and illegal channels. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/08/11) add-resources.org, 03/07/11

Active criticizes alcohol industry’s distorting picture of women.
Andrea Lavesson, Active President, explains that “the alcohol industry objectifies girls and women in two ways: since in most countries the alcohol use of girls and women used to be lower than of men, especially girls and women have been identified as new market. Girls and women became the new target group for increasing profits. The second form of objectification can be seen in the commercials: women are displayed as sexual objects.”
In fact, to seduce girls and women to start drinking and increase their use of alcohol, the alcohol industry does not consider ethics: tapping into gender stereotypes is their strategy. Therefore they designed “diet” alcoholic beverages, developed a variety of fruit flavoured beer that soon was called “chick beer” and promote these products in connection with items, like handbags, high heels, make-up, that are highly associated with women. (Source: Active press release, 03/08/11) Comment: Not to forget that is was the protest of women, the „Suffragettes“, against the alcohol industry, which brought in several countries the right of vote to women.

I am sitting on the Justice and Electoral Select Committee as we hear submissions on the Alcohol Reform Bill for two days in Auckland.
There have been so many powerful and moving submissions. Some brave individuals have shared their own stories of alcohol harm. Overwhelmingly submitters are urging that a decisive leadership role is taken in dealing with alcohol harm. Submitters illustrate time and again what research has shown and that is as a drug alcohol causes greater harm to others than to self. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 03/04/11) blog.labour.org.nz, 03/04/11 our Online-Comment:
It’s really funny how many “experts” discuss this problem without knowing the facts. One of the included problems is that information is not coming to the public. In May 2010 the World Health Organization has accepted with all member states a resolution on a Global Alcohol Strategy. The harm alcohol does and the effective measures to reduce the problems are shown in detail. Did the New Zealand people got this information? In many countries the alcohol lobby is so strong that medias and government health agencies did not dare to inform the public.
The WHO calls all of us “passive drinkers” because we all suffer directly or indirectly from alcohol-related harm and we pay during a lifetime without ever being asked an awful lot of money for alcohol-related social costs. (income tax, insurance premiums)
The best measure to reduce harm is to reduce consumption by higher alcohol prices. This reduces consumption in all groups. The majority, the moderate consumers have the best profit. They pay a little more taxes but have the full profit of less social costs. And everybody has the freedom to drink as much as he likes or want to afford. Our freedom is only restricted by the alcohol industry which forces us to suffer and pay the social costs they produce. They have the profits the public has to pay the damage.
To reduce the availability is the second best measure.
To bring down the BAC-limit would be very effective. If it is combined with strong controls. In Europe the result was a reduction of 15 to 20% in mortality, alcohol related accidents and injuries. And the effect remained for years. Why not use the experience of other countries and science?

Towards a Comprehensive EU-Wide Strategy
The Silken Berlaymont Hotel, Brussels. Tuesday 14th June 2011
Event Details  Website 
In the European Union, domestic violence against women remains an alarming phenomenon, and the most consistent and pervasive human rights violation across the continent.
This timely International Symposium renews the debate on how to work towards an EU-wide strategy on domestic violence. It will provide a platform for the discussion of a better European regulatory framework aimed at strengthening the 3 P’s – prevention, protection and prosecution.

The SMART project (Standardizing measurement of alcohol-related troubles) [1] has been looking into developing standardised methodologies to survey drinking behaviours as well as standarised cost-benefit analyses of alcohol policies.
The project has been funded under the EU Public Health Programme and it is to be seen in the context of An EU Strategy to support Member States in reducing alcohol related harm. Adopting a common strategy requires common methodologies to monitor both its implementation and its impact. However, there is not a standardized survey methodology which could be applied across Europe for comparative purposes. This was the gap that the SMART project came to fill. …
[2] Ten countries participated representing various drinking cultures and different levels of political development ranging from Nordic Finland, new EU countries including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Poland, Western European countries: Germany, UK and Ireland as well as Mediterranean Italy and Spain. (Source: Eurocare Newsletter January-February 2011)

Europe is the heaviest-drinking region in the world — we drink, on average, 11 litres of pure alcohol each year. Alcohol costs our society an estimated EUR 125 billion every year in spending on such things as the treatment of diseases and policing and in terms of lost productivity, etc.
This being so, could the Commission please provide data that show how much of the European budget is currently spent on the promotion of alcoholic beverages?
Does the Commission intend to continue to spend these levels of funds on the promotion of alcohol?
Answer given by Mr Cioloș on behalf of the Commission: … (Source: Eurocare Newsletter January-February 2011)