ICAP Blue Book: Practical Guides for Alcohol Policy and Prevention Approaches

The ICAP Blue Book: Practical Guides for Alcohol Policy and Prevention Approaches offers a comprehensive guide to the key issues in alcohol policy development and an integrated approach to prevention. It draws upon the best available research and experience from around the world.

As a policy guide, the ICAP Blue Book is based on three key elements:

• drinking patterns and their outcomes as a sound scientific basis for policy development;
• targeted interventions that address specific “at-risk” populations, potentially harmful contexts, and drinking patterns;
• partnerships that allow the inclusion of the public and private sectors, the community, civil society, and others all working toward a common goal.

The Blue Book is intended as a tool to assist those seeking guidance in developing policy and prevention approaches, be they governments, intergovernmental organizations, public health officials and specialists, researchers, nongovernmental organizations, the beverage alcohol industry and its related bodies, or civil society groups. It can be used to address simple issues or to craft broader and more comprehensive approaches to policy.

The ICAP Blue Book site

Drinkaware 2012 report reviews impact of activities - but will health groups be convinced?

The industry funded alcohol education charity Drinkaware has released a 2012 impact report, detailing its recent activities and reported impacts on target groups.

Drinkaware's existence not surprisingly divides opinions; some health groups are sceptical of indsutry led intiatives, or raise concerns over a policy focus on education based approaches. Earlier this year anindependent audit gave Drinkaware a mixed review of its impact over recent years.

Mor info here

View Report here: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/media/162901/drinkaware_impact_report_2012.pdf

The Effects of the 2006 Russian Alcohol Policy on Alcohol-Related Mortality: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

1. William Alex Pridemore, 
2. Mitchell B. Chamlin, 
3. Maria T. Kaylen, 
4. Evgeny Andreev

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experiemtanl Research

Article first published online: 16 AUG 2013

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.12256/abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a set of 2006 Russian alcohol policies on alcohol-related mortality in the country.

Methods

We used autoregressive integrated moving average interrupted time series techniques to model the impact of the policy on the number of sex-specific monthly deaths of those aged 15+ years due to alcohol poisoning, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, alcoholic liver cirrhosis, and alcohol-related mental and behavioral disorders. The time series began in January 2000 and ended in December 2010. The alcohol policy was implemented in January 2006.

Results

The alcohol policy resulted in a significant gradual and sustained decline in male deaths due to alcohol poisoning (ω_o = −92.631,p < 0.008, δ₁ = 0.883, p < 0.001) and in significant immediate and sustained declines in male (ω₀ = −63.20, p < 0.05) and female (ω₀ = −64.28, p < 0.005) deaths due to alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

Conclusions

The 2006 suite of alcohol policies in Russia was responsible for an annual decline of about 6,700 male alcohol poisoning deaths and about 760 male and about 770 female alcoholic liver cirrhosis deaths. Without the alcohol policy, male alcohol poisoning deaths would have been 35% higher and male and female alcoholic liver cirrhosis deaths would have been 9 and 15% higher, respectively. We contextualize our findings in relation to declining mortality in Russia and to results from recent studies of the impact of this law on other causes of death.

1. 
   

Status report on alcohol and health in 35 European countries 2013

People in the WHO European Region consume the most alcohol per head in the world. In the European Union (EU), alcohol accounts for about 120 000 premature deaths per year: 1 in 7 in men and 1 in 13 in women. Most countries in the Region have adopted policies, strategies and plans to reduce alcohol-related harm. In 2012, the WHO Regional Office for Europe collected information on alcohol consumption and related harm, and countries policy responses to contribute to the Global Information System for Alcohol and Health; this report presented a selection of the results for 35 countries – EU Member States and candidate countries, Norway and Switzerland – individually and in groups distinguished by their drinking patterns and traditions.

Download (PDF)

Alcohol Policy Information System

 

   http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/

The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) provides detailed information on a wide variety of alcohol-related policies in the US at both State and Federal levels. Detailed, state-by-state, information is available for the 33 policies listed below. Also provides a variety of informational resources of interest to alcohol policy researchers and others involved with alcohol policy issues.

Adicciones: Retos de la investigación para informar a las políticas públicas. Dra. Medina-Mora

Miércoles 14 de agosto, 12:00hrs

Auditorio de la Unidad de Posgrado 

Serie de Conferencias Magistrales organizadas por la Coordinación de Estudios de Posgrado de la UNAM

"La Justicia Terapéutica. Una Alternativa en Desarrollo" Seminario por CONADIC/SALUD - IIJ/UNAM

Más información aquí

Use of evidence to influence alcohol policy: Case studies, the Alcohol Industry...

Jim McCambridge on 'Use of evidence to influence alcohol policy': 

Case studies, the Alcohol Industry and Minimum Unit Pricing

Watch video

Jim McCambridge leads two presenatations. In the first one he discusses a paper, which was published in 2013: 'Industry use of evidence to influence alcohol policy: A case study of submissions to the 2008 Scottish Government Consultation'. Jim examines how research evidence is used in alcohol industry submissions made to a Scottish Government consultation in 2008 to advocate policies in line with their commercial interests. Moreover, he argues that industry actors consistently oppose the approaches found in research to be most likely to be effective at a population level without actually engaging with the research literature in any depth.

In the second talk he discusses another paper 'Alcohol Industry influence on Public Policy: A case study of minimum pricing', where he focuses on corporate political activity. Whilst much of the literature on alcohol policy exhibits a clear assumption that industry actors are extremely powerful, there is relatively little about the processes through which alcohol policy is made and the specific role played by industry actors in these processes. This project aimed to fill this gap by examining the debates around pricing and promotions policy in England and Scotland. 

Alcohol: Políticas públicas. Curso en línea de la OPS

Curso virtual sobre políticas de salud pública

en materia de consumo de alcohol.

Más información aquí

SAMHSA seeks public comment on Federal Guidelines for Opioid Treatment

SAMHSA Bulletin
Date: 6/27/2013 10:40 AM 



The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is seeking public comments on the Federal Guidelines for Opioid Treatment. (...) 

As part of its effort to finalize the guidelines, SAMHSA is asking representatives from OTPs, accreditation organizations, patients groups, the medical community and other interested members of the public to review and comment on these preliminary guidelines. 

The guidelines are available at: 

 http://www.dpt.samhsa.gov/pdf/FederalGuidelinesforOpioidTreatment5-6-2013revisiondraft_508.pdf. 

More

REDUCING HARMFUL USE OF ALCOHOL: BEER, WINE AND SPIRITS PRODUCERS' COMMITMENTS

http://commitments.global-actions.org/default.aspx

Leading global producers of beer, wine and spirits have made a collective commitment to build on their long-standing efforts to reduce harmful drinking through the Beer, Wine and Spirits Producers’ Commitments. In recognition of the serious effects that the harmful use of alcohol can have, these producers wish to demonstrate their support of international efforts to improve health and social outcomes for individuals, families and communities through the Commitments.

The 13 CEO signatories and their companies are implementing 10 targeted actions in five key areas over the next five years. The key areas being addressed are:

• Reducing under-age drinking
• Strengthening and expanding marketing codes of practice
• Providing consumer information and responsible product innovation
• Reducing drinking and driving
• Enlisting the support of retailers to reduce harmful drinking

The signatory companies commit to actions in these five areas ‐ many of which have been inspired by best practices in various countries ‐ to strengthen and expand existing efforts and contribute to reducing the harmful use of alcohol in their capacity as producers, distributors, marketers, and sellers of beer, wine, and spirits.

Efficacy and the Strength of Evidence of U.S. Alcohol Control Policies

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 45, Issue 1 , Pages 1-8, July 2013

http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(13)00212-2/abstract

Background

Public policy can limit alcohol consumption and its associated harm, but no direct comparison of the relative efficacy of alcohol control policies exists for the U.S.

Purpose

To identify alcohol control policies and develop quantitative ratings of their efficacy and strength of evidence.

Methods

In 2010, a Delphi panel of ten U.S. alcohol policy experts identified and rated the efficacy of alcohol control policies for reducing binge drinking and alcohol-impaired driving among both the general population and youth, and the strength of evidence informing the efficacy of each policy. The policies were nominated on the basis of scientific evidence and potential for public health impact. Analysis was conducted in 2010–2012.

Results

Panelists identified and rated 47 policies. Policies limiting price received the highest ratings, with alcohol taxes receiving the highest ratings for all four outcomes. Highly rated policies for reducing binge drinking and alcohol-impaired driving in the general population also were rated highly among youth, although several policies were rated more highly for youth compared with the general population. Policy efficacy ratings for the general population and youth were positively correlated for reducing both binge drinking (r=0.50) and alcohol-impaired driving (r=0.45). The correlation between efficacy ratings for reducing binge drinking and alcohol-impaired driving was strong for the general population (r=0.88) and for youth (r=0.85). Efficacy ratings were positively correlated with strength-of-evidence ratings.

Conclusions

Comparative policy ratings can help characterize the alcohol policy environment, inform policy discussions, and identify future research needs.

Global Actions: Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking.

GLOBAL ACTIONS IN FOCUS 

ICAP TRANSLATED MATERIALS

The Beer, Wine and Spirits Producers’ Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking are available for readers to view in six languages: English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian, at both www.global-actions.org and commitments.global-actions.org. In addition to the Commitments, several ICAP publications are available online and have been translated into numerous languages.

ICAP Issues Briefings are excellent tools that provide background information on specific topics relevant to alcohol policy and the Commitments. Alcohol Marketing and Young People, for example, is available to read in four languages:French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Alcohol-impaired Driving andHealth Warning Labels are available in Spanish. Social Marketing and Alcohol has been translated in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

ICAP recommends that the Issues Briefings be used in conjunction with ICAP's other Policy Tools, including the ICAP Blue Bookand ICAP Policy Guides. ICAP Issues Briefings are updated on an ongoing basis. Visit the website regularly as more translated materials become available.

In addition to the ICAP Issues Briefings, the Toolkit for Working Together is available in French, German, and Spanish, and provides tools to facilitate cooperation between alcohol industry members and other stakeholders to reduce harmful drinking.

KEY RECENT MILESTONES

· Worldwide: The Global Actions Twitter gained 33 new followers in April and May, while the Global Actions Facebookpage had 11,300 impressions and the ICAP Facebook page had 9,600 impressions during the same time frame.

WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT

Nigeria: A Baseline Survey will be conducted by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and researchers from the University of Lagos during the week of June 24, 2013. Questionnaires and breath alcohol tests will be administered to approximately 500 petroleum tanker drivers in Lagos.

Alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence, and related mortality in Italy in 2004: effects of treatment-based interventions on alcohol dependence

 

The tradition of consuming alcohol has long been a part of Italian culture and is responsible for a large health burden. This burden may be reduced with effective interventions, one of the more important of which is treatment for Alcohol Dependence (AD). The aim of this article is to estimate the burden of disease in Italy attributable to alcohol consumption, heavy alcohol consumption, and AD. An additional aim of this paper is to examine the effects of increasing the coverage of treatment for AD on the alcohol-attributable burden of disease.

 

Alcohol-attributable deaths and the effects of treatments for AD were estimated using alcohol-attributable fractions and simulations. Deaths, potential years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability adjusted life years lost were obtained for 2004 for Italy and for the European Union from the Global Burden of Disease study. Alcohol consumption data were obtained from the Global Information System on Alcohol and Health. The prevalences of current drinkers, former drinkers, and lifetime abstainers were obtained from the GENder Alcohol and Culture International Study. The prevalence of AD was obtained from the World Mental Health Survey. Alcohol relative risks were obtained from various meta-analyses.
 

5,320 deaths (1,530 female deaths; 3,790 male deaths) or 5.9% of all deaths (4.9% of all female deaths; 6.3% of all male deaths) of people 15 to 64 years of age were estimated to be alcohol-attributable. Of these deaths, 74.5% (61.3% for females; 79.8% for males) were attributable to heavy drinking, and 26.9% (25.6% for females; 27.5% for males) were attributable to AD. Increasing pharmacological AD treatment coverage to 40% would result in an estimated reduction of 3.3% (50 deaths/year) of all female and 7.6% (287 deaths/year) of all male alcohol-attributable deaths
 

Alcohol was responsible for a large proportion of the burden of disease in Italy in 2004. Increasing treatment coverage for AD in Italy could reduce that country's alcohol-attributable burden of disease.

Read Full Article     (PDF)

Alcohol Policy Changes and Trends in Adolescent Drinking in Finland from 1981 to 2011

To test if changes in national alcohol policy have had an impact on alcohol use among 12- to 18-year-old adolescents in Finland over a 30-year period. 


Frequencies of drinking any amounts of alcohol and drinking alcohol until really drunk from bi-annual repeated cross-sectional surveys from 1981 to 2011 were examined against a national alcohol policy review using nationally representative samples of 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-year-old adolescents (n = 99,724) in Finland. 

Twelve-year-olds' alcohol drinking remained rare throughout the period. Drinking among 18-year-olds generally increased throughout the period. Significant increases until the late 1990s and decreases thereafter were observed in 14- and 16-year-olds' drinking patterns. A sharp increase was predicted between 2003 and 2005 as a result of EU-related processes, but instead decrease was observed among 14–16-year-olds. The tests of hypothesized decrease from 2005 to 2011 due to tightening alcohol policy including several tax raises produced mixed results. 


Alcohol policy changes between 1981 and 2011 seem not to have had noticeable influence on alcohol drinking or drunkenness among the under-aged in Finland. Conspicuous increases seen in population total consumption in association with EU-related developments have not materialized among adolescents.

Abstract

Estudio de costo-efectividad de intervenciones para prevenir el abuso de alcohol en México

Salud Mental 2010;33:373-378

Estudio de costo-efectividad de intervenciones para prevenir el abuso de alcohol en México

María Elena Medina-Mora,
Ignacio García-Téllez,2 Diego Cortina,
Ricardo Orozco,
Rebeca Robles,1 Lucía Vázquez-Pérez,
Tania Real,
Dan Chisholm

http://www.inprf-cd.org.mx/pdf/sm3305/sm3305373.pdf