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The European Transport Safety Council has published its 13th Drink Driving Monitor. The document brings news from across the EU on steps to further improve drink driving legislation and enforcement.
Updates on Cross-Border Enforcement Directive and the decision of the UK to delay its opt-in are presented, together with the Draft Report on Road Safety proposed by MEP Koch and the latest on TISPOL alcohol and drug campaign. An interview with Desiree Schaap, Ministry of Transport in the Netherlands, on the Dutch Alcolock Programme and the ETSC alcolock legislation barometer are also featured. To read more, please click here. (Source: Eurocare Newsletter March-April 2011)

The Swedish government proposed a new strategy to fight the use of alcohol, drugs, steroids and tobaco. The plan will result in yearly action plans and evaluations. The parliament agreed fully to the proposal but added a suggestion to ban alcohol use immediately after accidents. (Source: Eurocare Newsletter March-April 2011)

In February 2011 the Dutch Directorate for Media ruled that the STER (Stichting Ether Reklame), the organisation responsible for providing the commercials to public channels in the Netherlands, had violated the new Dutch Media Law. The STER received a fine of 35.000 euro for broadcasting TV alcohol commercials for Heineken and Bavaria beer before 9 p.m. in 2010. The complaints were filed by the Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy (STAP).
Since the 1st of January 2010 a legal watershed ban on alcohol advertising came into force in The Netherlands. Between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. alcohol commercials are not allowed to be broadcasted on radio and television. Sponsoring of programs by alcohol advertisers is still allowed. … (Source: Eurocare Newsletter March-April 2011)

The WHO has launched a consultation aiming to bring together national focal points from European Member States and other stakeholders to develop a five-year operational plan for implementation of the European Strategy for the Prevention and Control of non-communicable diseases.
The consultation has three main objectives:
• To review the responses to non-communicable diseases (NCD) across the European Region;
• To agree on a practical set of actions that can be taken by Member States, by WHO and by partners to address the NCD epidemic in the five years to 2016;
• To contribute to the development of a European position in advance of the First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and NCD Control (Moscow, Russian Federation, 27 April 2011). (Source: Eurocare Newsletter March-April 2011)

The European Parliament rapporteur on the EU Budget recently released his draft report on the future EU Budget. Health and civil society are not mentioned in the report. This is worrying as this report will be the European Parliament position on what the priorities of the EU should be for the coming 5 to 7 years.
The health community can find below a summary of the report as well as the list of key MEPs to contact in order to advocate for public health to be taken into account by the European Parliament.
The rapporteur Salvador GARRIGA POLLEDO MEP (EPP Spain), states that the structure of the future EU Budget (‘Multi Annual Financial Perspectives MAFF’) should reflect the EU priorities, particularly the Europe 2020. However, he also recognises that the Europe 2020 is not an all-inclusive strategy covering all Union policy fields and therefore stresses that other Treaty-based policies pursuing different objectives will also need to be duly reflected in the next MAFF.
According to EPHA and its partners, the report is problematic as it does not mention public health, funding for civil society and it only considers inclusion in its role to increase growth.
It is therefore of utmost importance that the European health community gets active to support appropriate European Funding for health in the coming years. The European Commission is likely to make a its proposal in June 2011 and actions beforehand towards the European Commission and MEPs are welcomed.
Source: Eurocare Newsletter March-April 2011/EPHA)

With: News from Eurocare, News From the EU, News From the WHO, New Research and Publications, Alcohol Industry News,
Upcoming Events and Questions from MEPs. (Source: Eurocare, 04/17/11)

The latest IAS Alcohol Alert is available from the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS). The issue’s headline article attacks the Government’s alcohol policy, emphasising dissatisfaction over the Responsibility Deal, below cost ban and decision to stick with the current drink-drive limit. The Alert also reviews key alcohol policy news and developements over recent months including a slight fall in alcohol-related deaths, licensing act changes, and predicted rises in alcohol-related admissions. Full article index here.

Researchers know that there is a strong link between parental alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and the risk for developing an AUD among their offspring. This study looked at the risk of AUDs in the offspring of a large population-based sample of Danish parents. Findings confirmed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring. … Results showed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring, independent of other significant predictors such as gender, parental social status, and parental psychiatric hospitalization with other diagnoses. … (Source: Medical News Today, 04/17/11)

Mixing energy drinks, such as Red Bull with alcohol is probably more hazardous than consuming alcohol alone, researchers from Northern Kentucky University revealed in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. The authors explain that energy-drink cocktails have become fashionable and have been anecdotally associated with risky drinking practices, resulting in injuries and accidents. They add that there is not much research about comparing energy drinks plus alcohol with alcohol alone. … (Source: Medical News Today, 04/17/11)

“Prevention of alcohol problems is a leadership issue for the whole nation. The issue must be brought to the top of our political agenda”, says Lesotho’s Honourable Minister of Tourism, M. Ramaili. Lesotho’s alcohol policy will now be revised.
In her closing address to an alcohol policy training course in Maseru Ms Ramaili made reference to the current situation of Lesotho: “Alcohol is readily available anywhere in this country, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is an essential part of all celebrations; births, traditional festivals, funerals, sports event. There will be very few attendants at such events if you do not serve alcohol. Alcohol consumption is a complex issue. It brings economic benefits, but these benefits come at very high costs. Even if alcohol is a legal commodity the sale of this product cannot go unchecked”, said the Minister of Tourism.
The training session on evidence-based alcohol policies, which was held in the end of March, was part of a process to revise and improve the existing alcohol policy of Lesotho. Around 30 participants from government agencies and NGOs took part in a three-day program based on the book “Alcohol No Ordinary Commodity”. By their commitment, their competence and by active participation the participants contributed towards a successful training with a high level of energy. (Source: add-recources.org, 04/14/11)