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- iHaveNet.com: Health
Andy Coghlan
Humanity's relationship with alcohol has never been easy. Now it's about to undergo as great a change as our attitude toward tobacco, which has led to a huge decrease in smoking from the height of cool to the lowest of unpleasant habits.
That at least is the hope of the
Unveiled in October in Geneva, Switzerland, the document is the culmination of talks between representatives from the WHO's 193 member states.
"It is a landmark document," says Peter Anderson, a health consultant and adviser on alcohol to the WHO and the
Member states will be invited to ratify the finalized version of the document at the meeting of the
"It will provide knowledge and awareness about the size of the problem, and advice about the most cost-effective policies," says Anderson.
The impetus for action is founded on the growing realization that alcohol doesn't just harm those who drink, combined with a better knowledge of intervention strategies. For example, in March, the UK government's chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, devoted a chapter of his 2008 annual report to "passive drinking," the damage that heavy drinkers wreak on others.
To illustrate the extent of the problem in the United Kingdom, he reported that in 2008, there were 125,000 "alcohol-related instances of domestic violence," that an estimated 6,000 babies are born annually with fetal alcohol syndrome and that in 2006, 7,000 people were injured and 560 killed as a result of drink-driving, not including the drivers.
Sally Casswell of
"It challenges the neo-liberal ideology which promotes the drinker's freedom to choose his or her own behavior," she says.
Persuading governments and citizens of the problem is just the first step, though. What, if anything, can be done to stop people drinking to excess?
To some extent, strategies will depend on location. In rich countries, for example, the focus is likely to be on stopping young people from binge drinking, whereas introducing drink-driving laws may be a priority in rapidly developing countries, where newly acquired wealth is increasing ownership of cars and access to alcohol.
Generally, however, the WHO says the most effective measures are to raise prices through heavy taxation based on alcohol content, and to reduce the availability of alcohol through strict licensing schemes limiting opening times and the number of outlets.
Such strategies may smack of overactive government, but recent findings suggest these measures work. Alex Wagenaar of the
From another study, in which Wagenaar's team surveyed 800 students leaving a campus bar over four nights, and took breath alcohol readings, the researchers calculated that each
Meanwhile, at the behest of the Scottish government, Petra Meier of the
She estimates that setting the minimum price at
As for light drinkers who complain they would be unfairly set back by price increases, Meier claims that a
Of course, taxing booze and restricting its availability are not new ideas and such strategies are already deployed to some extent in most developed countries. But the WHO document argues that many countries don't implement them effectively.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, despite taxes that are heavier than on many other products, alcoholic drinks are still cheaper relative to income, and more widely available today than ever before. This is likely due to government fears of a consumer backlash, huge tax revenues from alcohol, and pressure from the industry to avoid anti-drinking legislation. Meanwhile, poorer countries often don't have any regulations at all.
Predictably, the alcohol industry is not happy with the WHO's focus on reducing consumption through pricing, availability and marketing. It also argues that government intervention isn't the only way to solve the problem.
"Other parties, including industry, can play a role," says Marcus Grant of the
He cites a collaboration in Kenya to overcome poisoning caused by cheap bootleg beer in which an African brewery produced a safer rival, and the Kenyan government agreed to lift tax on it. The
Others are skeptical of the industry's contribution to the debate. Robin Room of the
Anderson warns against this: "Price and availability are still the most effective strategies to reduce consumption, but the other thing is marketing, creating a social climate around drinking through sports sponsorship and movies. That has a powerful impact."
Anderson is still optimistic, though. "I don't think alcohol will ever become as socially unacceptable as tobacco use, but societies may adopt a more cautious approach to its supply and marketing, resulting in less harm."
© New Scientist Magazine
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World Health Organization Drafts Global Strategy to Deal With Alcohol's Dark Side