Alcohol Policy UK

Funding for children of alcohol dependent parents: tackling the stigma of 'alcoholism'?

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced further details on Government support for the children of alcohol-dependent parents. The funding follows a pledge earlier this year by the Health Secretary and campaigning by several MPs including a parliamentary group and a Manifesto for 'Children of Alcoholics'. 

The Government release say £6 million will be available to support a package of measures including £4.5 million for an 'innovation fund for local authorities to develop plans that improve outcomes for children of alcohol-dependent parents'. £1 million will go to fund national capacity building by non-governmental organisations whilst '£500,000 to expand national helplines for children with alcoholic parents' which had been previously pledged.

'Massive' study supports unit guidelines - where next for consumer messaging?

A new study on alcohol consumption risk levels based on almost 600,000 drinkers has been published in the Lancet, reporting the risk of early death from drinking begins to rise at a level above 100g of alcohol per week (12.5 units).

The findings, which cover 19 countries, can be seen to add weight to the Chief Medical Officer's recommended guideline of not regularly drinking more than 14 units per week, revised in 2016 and since subject to ongoing debate. The issue for many in the alcohol field though remains how best to communicate drinking guidelines and associated risks. Whilst most ultimately support the goal of informed decision making, the real world complexity of alcohol harms and how drinkers take note of - or indeed dismiss - alcohol-related messages leaves many ongoing questions over how to make use of such evidence.

Digital interventions for reducing alcohol consumption: do they work and if so, how and why?

In this guest post, Dr Claire Garnett, a Research Associate in UCL’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, discusses the findings from a recent systematic review of digital interventions for alcohol reduction.

Digital interventions are those delivered via computer technology, which includes smartphone apps, websites, computer programs, wearable devices, and telecommunications, that aim to promote behaviour change. Digital interventions for alcohol reduction have a number of advantages over the traditional face-to-face brief interventions such as: having a low cost per user, greater reach, can avoid the stigma associated with receiving help in person and are highly convenient in that they can be used as and when the individual wants. However, there is little evidence as to whether digital interventions are effective at reducing alcohol consumption.

Alcohol policy questions for the UK ahead of Scotland's MUP date

As Scotland's 1st May 2018 Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) implementation date fast approaches, debates on the role of pricing and other alcohol control policies is again receiving increased attention.

Writing in the Scotsman, Alcohol Focus Scotland's Chief Exec Alison Douglas says MUP’s 'positive impact on the nation’s health will be felt in a matter of months' and the 'life saving measure' is a ‘starting point for even more ambitious policies aimed at further tackling Scotland’s problematic relationship with alcohol'. The Scottish Government is shortly due to release a new national alcohol strategy to follow its former strategy and MESAS evaluation.

News & updates February 2018: pricing, Baclofen, admissions & new UK Hospitality industry body

Selected media stories since the January roundup: 

"Hazardous or harmful" drinkers must get the help they need if minimum unit pricing is introduced, Alcohol Concern Wales has said as the Welsh Government seeks to follow Scotland with a minimum 50p unit price in law. "I think we've known for quite sometime a lot of the alcohol in this country is consumed by those where alcohol is a problem not a pleasure" said, Andrew Misell, director of Alcohol Concern Wales. BBC

PHE 'Prevention, treatment and recovery: why invest?'

Public Health England (PHE) have released Alcohol and drug prevention, treatment and recovery: why invest? for commissioners and providers 'to help make the case for investing in drug and alcohol treatment and interventions'.

The resource collects alcohol-related figures and infographics designed to help make the business case for investing in treatment and early intervention - see the slide set here (includes some commentary and references in PowerPoint version -click 'save' in top right of screen).

Local Alcohol Profiles for England: 2018 release

Public Health England have released updated data for the Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE), which provides a picture of alcohol-related hospital admissions, mortality and other data across English regions and localities.

Headline national data from the release includes:

News & updates January 2018: airports, labelling 'awareness vacuum', young people, Newcastle MUP

Selected media stories since the November roundup: 

Restrictions on the sale of alcohol at UK airports could be introduced in an effort to reduce the number of drink-related rage incidents on planes. Airports are currently exempt from legislation governing when they can sell alcohol. The Home Office says passengers should be able to enjoy their holidays without having their flight disrupted by "a small minority of people". It is expected to begin assessing the impact of implementing the Licensing Act 2003 on airside premises in a few weeks. BBC

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).