SHAAP (Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems) has released a 'top 20 manifesto' for action on alcohol ahead of the upcoming Holyrood Scottish Parliament election in May.
'SHAAP's Top Twenty: A Manifesto for Action on Alcohol' [pdf] outlines 20 policy recommendations to reduce and prevent alcohol-related harms, with a particular emphasis on price, availability and marketing action. SHAAP say alcohol death rates in Scotland are almost twice the level they were in the early 1980s and that hospital admissions for alcoholic liver disease have more than quadrupled in the past 30 years. Twenty Scots are reported to die every week because of alcohol.
Many of the recommendations are already being pursued in Scotland, mostly notably minimum unit pricing which is still entwined in an EU legal battle instigated by a number of alcohol industry bodies. However a UK review of alcohol duty rates is also called for given the EU level limitations for tax levers, incidentally also supported by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
On availability, SHAAP calls for a 'national licensing authority' with powers to monitor and enforce Scotland's Public Health licensing objective. A call for alcohol only checkouts in retailers has also attracted media attention.
On marketing, SHAAP call for devolution of powers from Westminster with all alcohol advertising to be controlled by an independent body. Longer term SHAAP calls for advertising to be only allowed within licensed premises, with an immediate ban on sports-related advertising. Mandatory labelling on all alcohol products including ingredient and calorie information are also identified as key actions.
Recommendations also call for Scotland to sustain and build on its work to develop brief intervention and treatment options to increase quality and access across key groups. The Scottish Government has been monitoring and evaluating its alcohol strategy progress through its MESAS reports including analysis of consumption and sales data.
Last year a report released by the Alliance for Useful Evidence assessed the extent to which alcohol policies across the UK nations were evidence-based. It found Scotland had the strongest approach based on policy ambitions detailed in 'Health First', an independent alcohol strategy proposed by a coalition of health bodies in 2013. By contrast, it said the UK Government did not support the most effective policies, made inconsistent use of evidence, and was the most engaged with the alcohol industry.
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