www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has announced a 50 pence per unit target minimum through the Minimum Pricing Scotland Bill.
Announcing the decision, Nicola Sturgeon said:

„Too many Scots are drinking themselves to death. The problem affects people of all walks of life. It’s no coincidence that as affordability has increased, alcohol-related hospital admissions have quadrupled, and it is shocking that half of our prisoners now say they were drunk when they committed the offence… Introducing a minimum price per unit will enable us to tackle these problems, given the clear link between affordability and consumption.“

The Scottish government were recently reported to have agreed to a „sunset clause“ in the planned legislation, under a deal to win Conservative support. Minimum pricing will be ditched after six years if it fails to have an impact, which Sturgeon deemed „a perfectly reasonable and legitimate position to take.“ …
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 05/14/12)
see also: bbc.co.uk,

—results from an international study.
International comparisons of social inequalities in alcohol use have not been extensively investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of country-level characteristics and individual socio-economic status (SES) on individual alcohol consumption in 33 countries.

Data on 101 525 men and women collected by cross-sectional surveys in 33 countries of the GENACIS study were used. Individual SES was measured by highest attained educational level. Alcohol use measures included drinking status and monthly risky single occasion drinking (RSOD). The relationship between individuals’ education and drinking indicators was examined by meta-analysis. In a second step the individual level data and country data were combined and tested in multilevel models. As country level indicators we used the Purchasing Power Parity of the gross national income, the Gini coefficient and the Gender Gap Index. ….
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/11/12)

Alcohol consumption among Dutch 11 and 13-year-olds has decreased substantially in the past five years. Dutch kids are also the happiest in both Europe and North America.

This is the conclusion of a major international survey into the health and welfare of children between the age of 11 and 15, the results of which were published on Wednesday.

The survey, entitled Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC), shows that young Dutch teenagers drink less, smoke less cannabis and tobacco and engage less often in unsafe sex than most of their peers in the 39 countries covered by the HBSC report. Just five years ago, they were still among the top ten.
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/10/12) Radio Netherlands, 05/02/12

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)

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

Around 50 Norwegian municipalities currently have places that sell alcohol to three o’clock at night. If these pubs have to close the sale of alcohol an hour earlier, the income of each club will probably be reduced by around 10 percent, according to a new report from the Norwegian National Institute of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research (SIRUS).

– The main conclusion is that a one-hour reduction in the sales hours will reduce revenue per pint with an average of 9 to 12 percent, said SIRUS researcher Hans Olav Melberg.

– This is an average. Some restaurants and bars will experience a larger drop in sales, while others will experience a smaller effect, said Melberg.

The figures from the research are good news for all those who are working for an reduction of binge drinking and violence, says Sten Magne Berglund, Deputy Secretary General of Actis – a Norwegian Policy Network on alcohol and drugs. …
(Source: Eurocare Newsletter 4/2012)

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

Los Angeles emergency rooms are reporting a growing number of teenagers coming in drunk after drinking cheap liquid hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizers, which contain over 60% ethyl alcohol and can make a 120-proof liquid, are becoming an increasingly popular route for getting drunk.

According to the Los Angeles Times, six teens have been reportedly taken to emergency rooms in the San Fernando Valley and treated for alcohol poisoning after drinking the hand sanitizers. In some cases, salt was used to separate the alcohol, so that it could be drunk straight, like a shot. Learning how to distill the sanitizer is not so difficult if you know how to look things up online.

Public health officials in the San Fernando Valley have described these cases as possibly a signal of a dangerous trend. ….
(Source: Medical News Today, 04/24/12)