www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Results from the project Alcohol Marketing Monitoring in Europe (AMMIE) stress the need to implement a ban on sport sponsorship of alcohol brands in Europe. The project clearly shows that popular sports like football are heavily sponsored by alcohol brands, which is also the case with the UEFA Championship in Poland and Ukraine starting the coming weekend. – The AMMIE project shows how sport is being sponsored intensively by alcohol producers and that a ban is clearly needed, says Wim van Dalen, coordinator of AMMIE and Director of STAP – Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy.

More sponsoring, more drinking
Recent studies shows that sport events sponsored by the alcohol industry are associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption among the sport spectators compared to spectators at sporting events where the event is not sponsored by the alcohol industry. This is especially worrying when the UEFA Championship starts the coming weekend with Carlsberg as one of the main sponsors.

Many sport clubs sponsored by the drinks industry
The AMMIE project has made the first attempt to examine alcohol-branded sport sponsorship of the top clubs of the five most frequently performed sports teams in Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Until now there has been no data available that gives insight in the number of sport clubs that are sponsored by alcohol brands. AMMIE shows how this is widespread and should be paid more attention to. In AMMIE, national statistics were used to select the five most frequently performed sports teams in each country. Of these sports, the ten teams that play in the highest division are rated as top clubs. Of these 50 top clubs, the club websites have been scanned thoroughly for the presence of alcohol-branded sponsors. Following is data from each AMMIE country more detailed described.

Young people exposed
Although the sport events with the famous clubs are not exclusively viewed by youth, nonetheless children and adolescents represent a significant proportion of the general viewing public. In this regard, the message to youth is clear: sport and alcohol consumption is positive and fun and famous players support the very brands advertised. Alcohol consumption is therefore connected to the healthy image of sport activities, although it is, in reality, a causal factor in more than 60 different diseases and illnesses (WHO, 2007). …

Alcohol sponsor shapes the image of the club
AMMIE provide insight into the way sponsorships shape their contributions to popular sports and their clubs in the five countries studied. Not only does the presence of an alcohol brand sponsoring a sport club stand out, but also the role of this sponsor in shaping the image of the club. When alcohol producers sponsor a sport club, not only can their logo be found on their website, the stadium or sporting hall can be named after the alcohol brand and the alcoholic beverages of this brand can be sold on the website and/or within the sporting club (canteen/bar). In this way the alcohol brand attempts to associate itself with the sport, the sport club, its sportive success, the loyalty of its fans and its positive image in society.

For more information contact:
The Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy (STAP)
PO box 9769
3506 GT Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel: 0031 30 6565041/ 0031 6 53295544

Der Nationalrat schwenkt bei der Frage, wie gemessen werden soll, ob eine Autofahrer zu viel Alkohol getrunken hat, auf die Linie des Ständerates ein. Neu wird dies in der Regel auch ab 0,8 Promille mit einem Atemlufttest gemacht. Die aufwändigeren und teureren Bluttests sollen nur noch bei Verdacht auf Drogen gemacht werden oder wenn es der Kontrollierte ausdrücklich verlangt. Wortprotokoll der Debatte, Artikel auf NZZ Online. Die Beratungsstelle für Unfallverhütung (bfu) begrüsst in einer Medienmitteilung diesen Entscheid. (Quelle: Infoset Newsletter, 5.6.12)

Der Ständerat hat seinen Entscheid vom vergangenen Dezember rückgängig gemacht und mit dem Stichentscheid des Ratspräsidenten beschlossen, auf das Präventionsgesetz einzutreten. Mit diesem laut Allianz ‚Gesunde Schweiz‘ weitsichtigen Entscheid bietet der Ständerat Hand zu einer wichtigen Reform, welche die Stärkung von Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung in der Schweiz durch einen wirkungsvolleren Einsatz der vorhandenen Mittel ermöglicht. Medienmitteilung (pdf, 1S., 85Kb) der Allianz, Wortprotokoll der Debatte. (Quelle: Infoset Newsletter, 5.6.12)

Inhalt: Suchtpolitik || Aus den Dossiers: Kinder & Jugendliche| Reisebestimmungen || Suchtformen/Substanzen: Alkohol | Cannabis | Tabak | Weitere || Beratung/Therapie | Forschung & Statistik | Gesundheit & Soziales | Institutionen | Diverses | Agenda | Infoset-Redaktion |
Link: Newsletter abonnieren

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA and the Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA have published a declaration of the Swiss Health Foreign Policy. It was found in the Monthly e-Newsletter of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Link: (31 pages, pdf)
Comment:
page 7: „Safeguarding of interests and coherence
In both domestic and foreign policy, Switzerland has a variety of objectives to pursue. For example, Switzerland wishes to reconcile its commitment to a liberal economic order with the interests of solidarity and global health. In the measures designed to achieve these objectives, therefore, the greatest possible coherence should be sought, synergies should be developed, and inevitable conflicts of interests should be openly addressed and re-solved via the existing political decision-making mechanisms.“

Comment: In domestic policy Switzerland has big problems pursuing these objectives. Regarding alcohol policy the inevitable conflicts between the liberal economy and the interest of the people is not openly addressed. The existing political decision-making mechanisms are not working because of a sort of „alcohol-dependency“ of the majority of politicians.

page 12: „Area of interest 1: Governance
Since its establishment, WHO has been the key agency and dominant international forum for health issues, especially in the normative area. However, the last ten years have seen the emergence of a large number of new state, private and mixed institutions, which have rapidly developed into significant actors in the health field, sometimes with massive financial resources. As a result, the global health architecture has become more complex, and governance at the global level more difficult. Switzerland has a substantial interest in an improvement of the effectiveness of global and international health cooperation. It is therefore seeking to promote more coherent interaction among the relevant actors from the sectors of health, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, human rights and other health-related policy areas, be it at the bilateral level – especially in relations with the EU, but also in bilateral development cooperation –, in multilateral bodies or in the context of the WHO reform process. …“

Comment: It seems as if the coordination between the two departments doesn’t work so well. Switzerland signed the Resolution at the WHO General Assembly 2010 on a Global Alcohol Strategy. But the department of Home Affairs didn’t act accordingly. Very few people in Switzerland know about this resolution. The medias didn’t report. In the new Law on Alcohol which is going to parliament there are no articles with effective measures included as proposed in that resolution. Responsible for this law is the Department of Finance.(!) The WHO-Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases in 2011 didn’t reach the people either. If the „existing political decision-making mechanisms“ are dominated by the interests of the alcohol industry, the population has no chance getting better alcohol related harm reduction.

Limiting alcohol to half a unit per day is best for health, say Oxford University researchers who analyzed the link between alcohol consumption and 11 chronic diseases and concluded 4,600 more lives would be saved every year if people in England were to cut the amount they drink to within this level.

They write about their findings in a BMJ Open paper that was published online on 30 May.
The lead author of the study was Dr Melanie Nichols of the BHF Health Promotion Research Group, in the Department of Public Health, at Oxford University. She told the press:

„People who justify their drinking with the idea that it is good for heart disease should also consider how alcohol is increasing their risk of other chronic diseases. A couple of pints or a couple of glasses of wine per day is not a healthy option.“ …
(Source: Medical News Today, 06/01/12)

Mechthild Dyckmans, FDP-Politikerin und Drogenbeauftragte der Bundesregierung, sorgte kürzlich mit der Veröffentlichung eines „Drogen- und Suchtberichts“ für Empörung in der Netzgemeinde und offenbar auch für Unverständnis bei ihren Kollegen und Kolleginnen aus der Politik. Das zumindest impliziert eine nun herausgegebene Pressemitteilung der CSU-Generalsekretärin Dorothee Bär.

Darin verurteilt die CSU-Politikerin unter anderem die von Dyckmans angeregte gedankliche Nähe des Internetverhaltens zum Alkohol- und Drogenkonsum. Sie halte einen solchen Vergleich für absurd, so Bär, und empfehle jedem, weder Computerspiele, noch das Medium an sich als Gefahr für Leib und Leben darzustellen. …

(Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 30.5.12) onlinewelten.com, 29.5.12

unser Online-Kommentar: Mit den bisherigen Kommentaren gehe ich einig.
Einen besonderen Aspekt möchte ich aber beifügen: Mit dieser Gegenüberstellung hat die Drogenbeauftragte die Alkoholprobleme massiv bagatellisiert. Man könnte direkt meinen, es sei ein Ablenkungsmanöver, weil sie mit den bisherigen harmlosen Bemühungen das Problem nie in den Griff bekommen wird. Andererseits sind ihr die Hände gebunden, weil diese Regierung kein Interesse daran hat, gegen die Alkoholindustrie anzutreten.

In 2011 we organized the First European Conference on Alcohol Law Enforcement in Rotterdam. The conference was a successful start of a network on alcohol law enforcement in Europe. This year we are continuing the network initiative with a conference in Stockholm at 15 and 16 November 2012. Theme of the second conference is Reducing public drunkenness and over-serving related violence. Every European city is facing this problem and every law enforcer that is active at night-time will recognize this issue. There are some very interesting best practices on reducing alcohol related violence in Europe and there is a lot of research on evidence based interventions. In November we will present those best practices and bring the specialists on this topic in Europe together with the members of the European Network for Alcohol Law Enforcement.

Signing in for the conference is possible by this link: http://www.fhi.se/conf20121115
(Source: European Network for Alcohol Law Enforcement, 05/31/12)

Der TV-Moderator Markus Lanz macht sich für die Aufzeichnungen seiner ZDF-Talkshow mit Koffein fit. … Auf Alkohol dagegen verzichte er, um sich erholen zu können. „Wenn du abends ein Weinchen trinkst, funktioniert das Spiel noch, bei zwei schon nicht mehr.“

(Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 31.5.12) welt.de, 30.5.12
unser Online-Kommentar: Mir scheint, der Mann hat Verstand und nutzt ihn auch.

Im Vorfeld der Fußball-Europameisterschaft (8. Juni bis 1. Juli in Polen und der Ukraine) haben Polens römisch-katholische Bischöfe die Fans zum Alkohol-Verzicht aufgerufen. „Lasst uns Polen und alle anderen Teams unterstützen, indem wir nüchtern bleiben“, heißt es in einem am Dienstag veröffentlichten Statement: „Zeigen wir unseren Gästen, dass wir ein freies Volk sind, das weiß, wie man ohne Alkohol feiert, Spaß hat und das Turnier genießt.“ (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 30.5.12) welt.de, 29.5.12
Kommentar: Diese Bischöfe wären ein Vorbild auch für westliche Länder. Gerade für jene, die sich mit ihrer Freiheit brüsten, dabei sich der globalen Alkoholindustrie und deren Komplizen unterwerfen und deren Schädigungen ihrer Bevölkerung anlasten.