WEEKLY ALCOHOL ISSUES No. 19
May 10, 2021 – May 16, 2021
This week’s Special Feature explores latest updates and newest evidence about the lethal interaction between alcohol and the coronavirus crisis, how the products and practices of the alcohol industry exploit and compound the pandemic, how consumption and harm are trending and country-specific policy responses…
Alcohol issues from our Policy Newsfeed cover communities calling for a higher MUP in Scotland; communities in Uganda advocating for better alcohol policies to improve protection against the products and practices of the alcohol industry; and three country alcohol policy success stories…
Alcohol issues from our Science Digest cover one study about the relationship between social capital and binge alcohol use; and how alcohol advertising – including from David Beckham – appeals to under-age children and youth…
Alcohol issues from our Big Alcohol Watch expose how illegal alcohol marketing fuels addiction in France during the pandemic…
Our Special Event Alert highlights three outstanding upcoming events: a side event at the World Health Assembly organized by Movendi International and NCD Alliance on…; as well as two WHO events that promise to be highly interesting: one is a webinar on alcohol (harm and policy) and inequality; and the other one is the third Forum on Alcohol, other Drugs, and Addictive Behaviors (FADAB3)…
Alcohol Policy News
The Alcohol Issues Podcast – Episode 18
Welcome to the 18th episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast.
For the three year anniversary of the historic alcohol minimum unit pricing policy coming into effect in Scotland, we focus in this episode on the first evidence from full MUP implementation and discuss wider issues around the alcohol floor price in particular and alcohol policy development in general.
Latest Science Digest
Big Alcohol Watch
Special Feature – No. 19
Recent Updates: Alcohol and the Coronavirus Crisis – Consumption, Harm, Policies
Alcohol and the coronavirus are interacting lethally. The products and practices of the alcohol industry are fueling the spread of COVID-19, are contributing to an immense health system burden, and are draining scarce resources from society. At the same time, the alcohol industry is using the pandemic to advance two key corporate objectives: weaken and deregulate alcohol policy systems and make alcohol more easily and widely available; and secondly to exploit the pandemic for marketing purposes to push alcohol as coping tool for people and to portray alcohol producers as virtuous, good corporate citizens.
But these aggressive tactics cause tremendous harms to individuals, families, communities and entire societies – as this latest Special Feature documents.
In terms of alcohol consumption trends, there are positive and negative trends unfolding: declining alcohol use in Sweden last year amidst the pandemic and a 20 year record of alcohol deaths in England and Wales.
A brand new study illustrates how alcohol contributes to narrowing the physical distancing between strangers…
Another country where the tactics of the alcohol industry lead to rising alcohol use is the U.S. amidst COVID-19; and the CDC has issued newest categorization of people with substance use disorders as high-risk of developing severe COVID-19 complications…
Two country stories expose how Big Alcohol exploits the pandemic: the alcohol industry is deploying the tobacco industry playbook to sow doubt about the effectiveness of South Africa’s temporary alcohol sales bans; and the alcohol industry is pushing India to legalize home delivery for profit maximization amidst the peak of the pandemic…
Special Event Alert
