Week #43 Global Alcohol Policy Round-Up
WORLDWIDE WEEKLY ALCOHOL POLICY, SCIENCE, INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS
Welcome to another week of carefully curated alcohol policy news, latest science updates, insights into Big Alcohol revelations as well as some outstanding blog posts from IOGT’s Global Voices.
Special feature
Alcohol harm seen from the eyes of the world’s children
We dive into a new tool for children from families with parental alcohol problems and we share the perspectives of children in South-East Asia regarding alcohol…
Content
For week 43, our Global Alcohol Policy Round-Up contains:
- Alcohol policy updates come from Wales, Australia, Canada, South Africa and the UK…
- Fresh science updates are about an analysis of how governments can create healthy lives, review of alcohol brief interventions in sub-Saharan Africa, and the global governance arena of alcohol…
- Our Big Alcohol monitor exposes how the alcohol industry puts pregnant women and the unborn into harm’s way and how Facebook and Big Alcohol target children with alcohol ads…
- On our Global Voices Blog Portal we have two new stories: Kristina writes about her expectations concerning the new partnership between FIFA and the WHO; and David writes about the long journey to Uganda’s first alcohol policy…
Wales: Impact Assessment of MUP
The government of Wales have published the impact assessment of their minimum unit pricing (MUP) policy. The Impact Assessment found: Increasing alcohol prices will reduce consumption and thereby, decrease alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations.
A 50p MUP would lead to 66 fewer alcohol-attributable deaths and 1,281 fewer alcohol-attributable hospital admissions per year.Introducing a minimum unit price of 50p is estimated to be worth £783m to the Welsh economy in terms of the reduction in alcohol-related illness, crime and workplace absence over 20 years…
Australia: Alcohol Policy Reduces Hospitalizations
Comprehensive alcohol policy solutions have significantly reduced alcohol-related hospitalizations and violence in the Northern Territory of Australia. Australia’s first Minimum Unit Price (MUP) on alcohol has been instituted in NT, along with a comprehensive program of alcohol policy reforms including many of the 200-plus recommendations contained in the Review of alcohol policies and legislation (the Riley Review) headed by former Chief Justice Trevor Riley.
Due to the policy changes the Territory has seen a massive reduction in alcohol harm including reduced hospitalizations, violence and people entering sobering up centres…
South Africa: Local Efforts to Tackle Alcohol Harm
Alcohol affordability and availability are thus key drivers of gender-based violence.Alcohol has also been identified as the 3rd leading risk factor for death and disability in South Africa. In the Western Cape region, many attempts have been made over several years to prevent and reduce alcohol harm, by governments and civil society. Unfortunately, there has been little systemic success to show for all the effort.
The Western Cape Government aims to change this by focusing on interventions that make a tangible impact in terms of reducing alcohol harm – so called game changer interventions and programs.The Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) focuses on regulating alcohol availability and affordability…
Canada: Case for Better Alcohol Policy
There is an urgent need for a strong federal alcohol policy in Canada to significantly reduce alcohol consumption, to curb related harm and to close the loopholes in the current policy.
As IOGT International is documenting, alcohol policy has been ignored for years by the federal government in Canada.
At the same time some provincial governments such as Ontario have even been weakening their alcohol control systems leading to increased harms.
Evidence shows that alcohol is a much bigger problem in Canada than opioids and yet the response by the federal government for this crisis has been flawed…
UK: Alcohol Tax Cuts Caused Many Deaths
According to a new study cuts in alcohol taxes have led to nearly 2000 more deaths and 100,000 additional crimes in England.
The study, commissioned by the Institute of Alcohol Studies and conducted by University of Sheffield found that since 2012, the taxes on alcohol has been falling. A duty escalator was introduced in 2008 but scrapped in 2013 and the government has been cutting or freezing taxes on alcohol every year since then…
Creating Healthy Lives: A Whole-Government Approach to Long-Term Investment in the Nation’s Health
Research Publication
Rarity and Limited Geographical Coverage of Individual Level Alcohol Interventions in Sub Saharan Africa: Findings from a Scoping Review
Research article
Limited Individual Level Alcohol Interventions in Sub Saharan Africa
Current Developments in the Global Governance Arena: Where is Alcohol Headed?
Research viewpoint
Current Developments in the Global Governance Arena: Where is Alcohol Headed?
Alcohol Production, Consumption Fuels Climate Crisis
According to the BBC climate change food calculator alcohol, particularly beer, fuels climate change.When calculating for emissions from one pint of beer – taken 3 to 5 times a week and within the guidelines for alcohol use provided by NHS – it amounts to 139kg of greenhouse gas emissions per year…
Big Alcohol Endangers Pregnant Women
New research has found that Big Alcohol and bodies funded by the alcohol industry are encouraging women to keep using alcohol throughout pregnancy despite scientific evidence stating otherwise.
The alcohol industry and their front groups are ignoring scientific evidence about the harms and dangers associated with alcohol use during pregnancy. They are also publishing false and misleading information and undermining the understanding of risks to get women to keep consuming alcohol while pregnant…
Facebook Exposes Minors to Harmful Ads
An investigation by the Guardian and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation has found Facebook has marked minors as “interested in” alcohol and gambling, thereby exposing them to harmful ads.
Facebook’s advertising tools show some 940,000 minors under the age of 18 years are flagged as being interested in alcoholic beverages and 740,000 are flagged as interested in gambling…
Special Feature: Alcohol harm seen from the eyes of the world’s children
USA: Sesame Street Highlights Parental Addiction
Sesame Street has launched a new initiative to help kids deal with parental substance use problems.
Sesame Workshop, the organization that produces the beloved children’s show, has created a new character Karli and a series of videos that features the 6-year-old Karli talking to her friends about her mom’s struggle with addiction. The group has also launched a website with toolsdesigned to guide parents, teachers, caregivers and other adults to support kids dealing with parental substance use problems.
The website follows how Karli is dealing with her mother’s addiction and also shares a young girl’s story of her family dealing with addiction…
WHO SEARO Publication: Alcohol in the Eyes of Kids
The World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia has published a booklet on how children see alcohol.
In the discourse on alcohol, the voice that is missing is that of the young. It is their voice that we need to hear. It is they who are affected most. It is their future at stake,” writes Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia.
The publication contains pictures drawn by children on how they see alcohol. The drawings follow three main themes:
- Listen to our voices, stop alcohol consumption;
- Effects and consequences;
- Messages on action for an alcohol-free world…