Alcohol Policy UK

Adopting “moderate drinking”: challenges and ways forward

In this guest post, Dr Samanthika Gallage, an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Nottingham University Business School discusses recent research exploring the experiences of young people seeking to moderate or abstain from alcohol use.

In public discourse, moderate drinking is commonly used to describe drinking behaviour that is not regarded as ‘excessive’ or ‘binging’. While the term itself has no clear definition, it is often considered synonymous with terms such as ‘responsible’ or ‘sensible drinking’.

Again, whilst not clearly defined or used in public health, the idea of ‘responsible drinking’ may be seen as drinking which is not harmful to oneself or others, or in some cases, as following the recommend drinking guidelines. However, some argue that it is precisely because of the unspecified nature of responsible drinking, and its emphasis on personal responsibility, that industry affiliated groups often favour such terms.

Labelling still failing consumers says AHA report

A new report on alcohol labelling says current voluntary codes are not working, with less than 70% of the labels displaying the Chief Medical Officer's (CMO) recommended weekly drinking guidelines. See BBC report.

Commissioned by the Alcohol Health Alliance, the report undertook a random sample of 424 alcohol containers on shop shelves to assess whether labels included the current CMOs’ guidelines and other essential pieces of information that would allow consumers to make informed choices. The report identifies key findings as:

IAS Alert March 2020: Tax, regulation, lobbying & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: March 2020 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• COVER STORY – King’s Fund: Taxes and regulation on alcohol ‘highly effective’
• Busiest MPs up to three times more likely to be ‘risky’ drinkers
• Four every minute: Six Nations references to alcohol
• Ireland: Cross-border talk of a uniform MUP
• Irish ministers lobbied daily by industry
• Seven out of ten alcohol labels fail to display guidelines
• Budget 2020: Alcohol duty frozen, again
• Barnsley backs call for Minimum Unit Pricing in England
• Irish drank less in 2019
• Alcohol and public health in the time of a pandemic
• ALCOHOL SNAPSHOT – The effectiveness of duty increases in raising prices at the checkout varies widely between drink types

New IAS report on duty and income ahead of 2020 budget

The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) has released a new report advocating a rise in alcohol duties as the 2020 spring Budget approaches. Health groups have been repeatedly disappointed by previous budgets which have generally seen real term cuts favouring industry group calls.

The latest report though aims to debunk the seemingly intuitive claim that higher alcohol taxes disproportionately hurt the poorest. However, the report argues it is poorer groups who would see greater health benefits as a result of lower drinking and by receiving a greater share of any increase in public spending derived from increased revenue. The analysis, which calculated the amount of alcohol duty that different households paid as a share of their income and total spending, finds taxes account for a similar share of the incomes and budgets of rich and poor households alike, and at worst are only mildly regressive.

Further minimum pricing evidence: positive effects as predicted?

Two further pieces of evidence have been released indicating the early stage effects of minimum pricing in Scotland, including an analysis on consumer purchasing data and an NHS Health Scotland evaluation of the impact on alcohol retailers and purchasers. 

Published in the BMJ, an analysis of the immediate impact on alcohol purchases in Scotland utilised samples of household purchasing data including England as a control group. Amongst the findings, a fall in the purchasing of alcohol in Scotland was found such that it concluded MUP led to a 7.6% reduction in off-trade purchases in Scotland, equivalent to drop of 328 g (41 UK units) per adult per household per year. This may be seen as broadly in line with early MUP market research sales data released earlier this year by NHS Scotland showing a fall in consumption against a rise in England.

Drink Free Days evaluations: a worthwhile partnership?

Two evaluations have been released assessing the 'Drink Free Days' (DFD) campaign launched last year as a partnership between Drinkaware and Public Health England (PHE), prompting controversy.

Drinkaware, the alcohol industry funded education charity, jointly launched the DFD campaign in partnership with Government body PHE, with the aim of encouraging at-risk and harmful middle-aged drinkers to take more days off from drinking.

Policy for the people? Alcohol Change UK 2019 conference

In this post, James Morris, Editor of Alcohol Policy UK, reflects on the recent 2019 Alcohol Change UK conference.

19 June 2019 was a significant day for the UK alcohol field. Not only did it mark Alcohol Change UK’s first national conference, at which keynote speaker Jonathan Ashworth MP announced the Labour Party’s commitment to make alcohol labelling mandatory, but also the release of early data indicating ‘encouraging signs’ of a decline in alcohol consumption following Scotland’s landmark minimum unit pricing (MUP) policy.

In many ways the timing couldn’t have been more fitting. While strong arguments for the role of key population level measures such as minimum pricing, availability and marketing have been repeatedly made, policy-makers for England have shied away from evidence-led approaches. Instead, alcohol policy has favoured cleverly framed but flawed arguments for alternative approaches of self-regulation and ‘local partnerships’, and ideas of ‘personal responsibility’.

IAS Alert June 2019: cost of hangovers, labelling, consumption, MUP & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: June 2019 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• COVER STORY – Hangovers cost the UK up to £1.4bn a year
• Scottish alcohol sales fall to 25-year low
• Northern Ireland: Middle-aged alcohol misuse costly for health services
• London hospital ACTs to reduce alcohol-related A&E admissions

Cancer media campaigns: an effective policy lever?

A new study has found a media campaign designed to raise awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer was associated with an increase in support for alcohol-related control policies.

Whilst based on findings from a Danish campaign, the study has attracted the attention of UK groups where policy debates have frequently revolved around the issue of alcohol's links to cancer and its communication.

Awareness of the link has been described as 'worryingly low', whilst a 2016 report warned alcohol-related cancers could cause 135,000 deaths over the next 20 years in England. Results from the 2018 Global Drugs Survey indicated almost half the British sample said cancer messages could get them thinking about drinking less, whilst health groups have continued to call for stronger alcohol policies and mandatory labelling including cancer warnings.

Preventing binge drinking in nightlife settings: lessons for the UK?

A new guidance resource for reducing alcohol-related problems in nightlife settings has been released, based on findings from a pan-European project including partners in England.

Download 'STAD in Europe: a manual for communities preventing alcohol related harm' [PDF].

The STAD (STockholm prevents Alcohol and Drug problems) project involved seven European pilots following the original Swedish community-approach to address binge drinking in nightlife settings, first developed in Stockholm in the late 1990's.