www.alkoholpolitik.ch

A free special edition of the Drug and Alcohol Review journal has been released exploring the evidence and reasons behind low risk drinking guidelines.

The special edition includes commentaries from Professor Nick Heather on the importance of drinking guidelines and a critical perspective from Sally Casswell who asks why have guidelines at all.

The issue comes shortly after a the Science and Technology Committee review into UK guidelines, from which MPs called for greater efforts to help the public understand alcohol guidelines.

The Government recently released a new Change4Life alcohol campaign warning against the risks of regularly exceeding the recommended guidelines.
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 03/06/12)

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

by Sally Casswell in The Lancet, 02/05/11
It was heartening to read of the forthcoming UN high-level meeting on chronic non-communicable diseases and the excellent strategic analysis by Robert Geneau and colleagues (Nov 13, p 1689),1 which addressed the links between chronic disease and poverty and the reasons for inaction.
As Geneau and colleagues‘ Series paper states, alcohol (a fast-growing risk factor in the populous, disproportionately young countries with growing economies) is a contributor to important chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and tuberculosis. It therefore qualifies for attention in this forum because of its contribution to premature mortality, the basis on which Geneau and colleagues suggest that resource allocation should be made. However, alcohol differs somewhat from other risk factors mentioned in the Series in that its contribution to the global burden of disease and injury is, in large part, via its effect on morbidity (injury from violence and motor vehicle crashes, alcohol dependence, and depression). Much of the effect is in young people, and disability-adjusted life-years are equivalent to those of tobacco globally.

von Sally Casswell, Raul Caetano, Thomas Babor, Untertitel: Forschung und Alkoholpolitik, 2005
ISBN 10: 3801719235, ISBN 13: 9783801719234, Erschienen bei: Hogrefe-verlag, EUR 59,95
Aus der Perspektive der Gesundheitsforschung ist Alkohol kein gewöhnliches Konsumgut. Alkohol hat weltweit Folgen für Individuen und Gesellschaften bis hin zu Krankheit und vorzeitigem Tod. Alkohol hat darüber hinaus einen ungünstigen Einfluss auf viele Aspekte des sozialen Lebens. Gesundheitspolitik und Alkoholforschung haben zum Ziel, diesen Auswirkungen sinnvoll zu begegnen. Was sind alkoholpolitische Maßnahmen Warum sind sie wichtig Welche Interventionen sind effektiv Das Buch beleuchtet die neuesten Erkenntnisse zur Effizienz nationaler und internationaler alkoholpolitischer Maßnahmen. Der Fokus liegt auf Empfehlungen hinsichtlich der wichtigsten Strategien: Besteuerung und Preispolitik, Regulierung von Kauf und Verkauf von alkoholischen Getränken, Modifizierung der Trinksituation, Maßnahmen gegen Trunkenheit am Steuer, Regulierung der Werbung für Alkohol, Präventions- und Therapieprogramme. Der deutschen Ausgabe sind drei Kapitel zur Alkoholpolitik in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz beigefügt. Diese Beiträge diskutieren u.a. die Frage ob und wie die Ergebnisse auf den deutschen Sprachraum übertragen und welche Maßnahmen umgesetzt werden können. (Quelle: Google Alkohol Alert, 8.1.10) cgi.ebay.de, 8.1.10 Kommentar: Dies ist das Standardwerk der Alkoholpolitik. Alle Politiker sollten dieses gelesen haben. Englisches Original: Alcohol – No ordinary commodity, 2003