The Institute of Alcohol Studies report on alcohol use, harm and policy in Europe has been published by the European Union under its Public Health Programme. The report is "an expert synthesis of published reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and individual papers, as well as an analysis of data made available by the European Commission and the World Health Organisation".
It makes a number of key recommendations to inform the development of EU alcohol strategy, including:
- Public policies should define alcoholic beverages in a uniform way
- Europan infrastructures should be established and financed to undertake research and disseminate major findings
- The European Commission should strengthen its capacity to develop alcohol policy, and should produce and implement action plans and strategies
- The maximim drink driving limit should be 0.5g/l throughout Europe (the UK limit is currently 0.8g/l)
- Alcoholic beverage containers should carry health warnings
- Minimum tax rates for alcoholic beverages should be increased in line with inflation and should cover the external costs of alcohol-related harm
- Jurisdictions that manage outlets through physical controls eg on density and hours of sale should consider not relaxing their regulations
- Resources should be made available to ensure the widspread availability and accessibility of identification and advice programmes for hazardous and harmful drinking and dependence
Further information
- Alcohol in Europe report here
- DG Sanco's Discussion paper on the EU strategy on alcohol here
- Workshop reports - including one on alcohol - from the UK's EU presidency health inequalities summit in 2005 here
- Public health priorities for the current EU presidency - includes development of the EU alcohol strategy - here
Comments