Alcohol Policy UK

Findings bulletins: politics and alcohol policy, the addiction disease debate, treatment cuts

Recent bulletins from the Findings drug and alcohol bank:

Measuring alcohol-related harm; politics and science

At national level alcohol-related harm and especially the net cost of harm versus benefits are slippery concepts. Malleability and policy salience combine to make the estimates contested territory, seen as justifying reduced alcohol taxes at one end and greatly increased prices at the other.

Does it matter if addiction is a brain disease?

Seizing on the theory’s propaganda value, in 1997 the head of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse proclaimed, “Addiction Is a Brain Disease, and It Matters.” His contention has been hailed as a breakthrough or condemned as a counterproductive chimera, closing our eyes what is really important about addiction.

Minimum pricing back in the spotlight following House of Commons Committe and IFS report

Scotland's green light to implement minimum unit pricing (MUP), due to come into effect in May this year, already appears to be increasing policy attention to the issue south of the border as MPs heard from stakeholders at a session on MUP held by the Health and Home Affairs Committees. 

The committee sought to assess the case for introducing MUP on alcohol in England, in particular: 

• the potential impact a MUP could have on health, healthcare and the criminal justice system 
• any cross border implications posed by decisions of the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments. 

The sessions are available to watch here. Below we attempt to capture some of the key points discussed.

“A tale of two cities”: Is local variability in alcohol policy a virtue or a vice?

In this guest post, John Mooney, a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Sunderland, explores the findings and potential lessons from a recently published case study research project exploring two differing approaches to local alcohol strategies.

There is no doubt that the transfer of public health (PH) teams back to local authorities (LAs) in England held considerable promise for addressing the “so-called” wider determinants of health that underpin so much of modern complex public health priorities [1]. Indeed many PH teams have enthusiastically embraced the opportunities to work with colleagues to explore how existing ‘policy levers’ such as in housing standards or using the planning system to restrict fast-food takeaways [2] can be genuinely informed by public health aspirations and insights.

Guidelines research, labelling politics & Dry January debate

Alcohol guidelines knowledge 

New research has been released on drinker's knowledge of the previous daily alcohol guidelines, suggesting only one in four drinkers accurately estimated them, with even fewer using guidelines to monitor their drinking.

The study explored knowledge and use of the guidelines prior to the revision to a weekly guideline of 14 units in 2016, before which a daily guideline of 2-3 units per day for women and 3-4 units per day for men (with at least two alcohol free days) had been in place since 1995.

The increasing size of wine glasses: a driver of consumption?

A recent study published in the BMJ has revealed the increase in average wine glass sizes over time, with a near seven fold increase since the 1700s and a particularly sharp rise since the 1990s.

The average glass size grew from 66ml in the 1700s to 449ml today. The current near half litre average glass capacity reflects the 250ml 'large' wine serving popularised in recent decades, demoting the former 'large' 175ml to a medium and making the 125ml standard serving of old appear rather paltry. The study points out that 250 ml equates to a third of a standard bottle of wine and typically over a fifth of the weekly recommended guidelines.

Health Survey England 2016 & Drinkaware Monitor 2017 reports

Two recent reports detailing recent consumption and drinking behaviour insights have been released in the annual Health Survey England 2016 and Drinkaware Monitor 2017.

The Health Survey for England (HSE) 2016 focuses on consumption in the last week, detailed in the adult health trends chapter [pdf]. HSE reports in 2016, 31% of men and 16% of women drank at a level indicating increased or higher risk of harm (more than 14 units per week as per the revised guidelines).

Hopsitals gear up for brief intervention CQUIN delivery

Hospitals across England are preparing for the introduction of the ‘preventing ill health by risky behaviours – alcohol and tobacco CQUIN’, which requires alcohol and smoking brief interventions to be delivered to hospital inpatients from 1st April 2018.

Public Health England have produced a series of resources to support implementation including infographics, videos and a frontline staff briefing. Since April 2017 certain Mental Health providers have being delivering brief interventions through the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation CQUIN scheme 2017 to 2019, which PHE report 88 per cent (51/58) of eligible providers indicated they had signed up to deliver. PHE have also published two case studies including one at University Hospital Southampton where IBA is being delivered to patients by pharmacy technicians, and another at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Public involvement in alcohol research: avoiding the black hole?

In this guest post, Dr Jo Cairns discusses the importance and challenges of public involvement in alcohol research following the recent Alcohol Research UK report. Jo is a Lecturer in Health Promotion and Public Health at Canterbury Christ Church University and previously worked as a Senior Research & Policy Officer at Alcohol Research UK.

Only a limited amount of alcohol research taking place formally involves people experiencing alcohol-related harms as potentially highly valuable contributors to research processes and outputs. Of the research that does, there are often many challenges involved and the ‘black hole of public involvement’ includes cases of public involvement in which the research remains unchanged.

New study identifies key alcohol and cancer mechanism

A new study revealing a key possible mechanisms for how alcohol can cause cancer has been published in the journal Nature, attracting significant media attention and expert reactions.

Whilst links between alcohol and at least seven types of cancers has been increasingly highlighted in recent years and was a key factor in the revision of the recommended drinking guidelines in 2016, scientific understanding of the precise mechanisms has been limited.

Funding for helpline to support 'children of alcoholics' announced

New funding of £500,000 has been reported by the Health Secretary to go towards a national helpline to support 'children of alcoholics' as part of a new Government strategy.

The announcement comes after ongoing work by several high profile MPs who have spoken about their experiences and attracted significant media attention to the subject. The funding will go to the National Association of Children of Alcoholics (NACOA) to help run its helpline which has previously relied on voluntary donations.