scholarly journals Alcohol Industry Wins over Public Health Interest in Finland

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-208
Author(s):  
Kerstin Stenius
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Alcohol Industry

A Framework Convention on Alcohol Control: Getting Concrete about Its Contents

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Robin ROOM ◽  
Jenny CISNEROS ÖRNBERG
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
Alcohol Control ◽  
The World ◽  
Draft Convention ◽  
History Of ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

This article proposes and discusses the text of a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control, which would serve public health and welfare interests. The history of alcohol’s omission from current drug treaties is briefly discussed. The paper spells out what should be covered in the treaty, using text adapted primarily from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but for the control of trade from the 1961 narcotic drugs treaty. While the draft provides for the treaty to be negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization, other auspices are possible. Excluding alcohol industry interests from the negotiation of the treaty is noted as an important precondition. The articles in the draft treaty and their purposes are briefly described, and the divergences from the tobacco treaty are described and justified. The text of the draft treaty is provided as Supplementary Material. Specification of concrete provisions in a draft convention points the way towards more effective global actions and agreements on alcohol control, whatever form they take.

scholarly journals Drink, but don't drive? The alcohol industry’s involvement in global road safety

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie Hoe ◽  
Niloufer Taber ◽  
Sarah Champagne ◽  
Abdulgafoor M Bachani
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Road Safety ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
Alcohol Control ◽  
Mapping Review ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Drink-driving is a major cause of global road traffic fatalities, yet few countries have laws that meet international best practices. One possible reason is the alcohol industry’s opposition to meaningful policies that are perceived to directly threaten sales. Our primary objectives are to document alcohol industry involvement in global road safety policies and programmes and to critically evaluate the responses of public health and road safety communities to this involvement. Under the guidance of the Policy Dystopia Model, we used a mixed methods approach in which data were gathered from expert interviews and a mapping review of 11 databases, 5 watchdog websites and 7 alcohol industry-sponsored initiatives. Triangulation was used to identify points of convergence among data sources. A total of 20 expert interviews and 94 documents were analysed. Our study showed that the alcohol industry acknowledges that drink-driving is an issue but argues for solutions that would limit impact on sales, akin to the message ‘drink—but do not drive’. Industry actors have been involved in road safety through: (1) coalition coupling and decoupling, (2) information production and management, (3) direct involvement in policymaking and (4) implementation of interventions. Our study also shed light on the lack of cohesion within and among the public health and road safety communities, particularly with regard to the topics of receiving funding from and partnering with the alcohol industry. These results were subsequently used to adapt the Policy Dystopia Model as a conceptual framework that illustrates the ways in which the alcohol industry has been involved in global road safety. Several implications can be drawn from this study, including the urgent need to increase awareness about the involvement of the alcohol industry in road safety and to build a cohesive transnational alcohol control advocacy alliance to curb injuries and deaths related to drink-driving.

Exposing the tactics of alcohol companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Moore AM
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
World Market ◽  
Alcohol Policy ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
The World ◽  
Prime Objective ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Background The alcohol industry has taken a page from the tobacco industry play book in an attempt to resist regulation through delay, self-regulation and effective lobbying. The global alcohol industry is constantly seeking to increase sales of harmful products through widespread marketing, the targeting of young people, and resisting regulatory action. Methods An assessment of the number of lobbyists engaged in one form of another to influence members of Parliament in Australia is being conducted to provide an insight into the attempts to influence alcohol policy. This follows a scan of the lobbyists' register by Daube et al in 2018 that found the while the tobacco industry had 20 direct lobbyists and 14 indirect, the junk food industry 33 direct and 13 indirect, the most dominant was the alcohol industry with 43 direct and 23 indirect. A careful re-examination of the register in 2020 is expected to reveal an increase in these numbers. There will also be an examination of the State and Territory registers in an attempt to understand the overall numbers of people specifically attempting to influence governments. Discussion This particular examination is focussed on the Australian Parliament/s. However, the message will be similar world-wide. Companies such as Diageo have a significant share of the world market with net sales, for example, being 25% of scotch, 16% of beer and 11% of vodka. Their “Drinkiq” website claims “Diageo is committed to preventing and reducing alcohol abuse around the world”. However, other business websites illustrate that their prime objective is to sell more alcohol. Presentation The presentation will focus on the importance of countering the efforts of industry in increasing availability of alcohol. It will also provide a series of steps that public health advocates can take in order to persuade governments of the importance of protecting community health through appropriate regulation of the marketing and sales of alcohol. Key messages The alcohol industry seeks to increase sales while arguing it is protecting health. Public health advocates do have the tools to counter approaches by alcohol companies.

scholarly journals Comparing responses to public health and industry-funded alcohol harm reduction advertisements: an experimental study

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e035569
Author(s):  
Emily Brennan ◽  
Danielle A J M Schoenaker ◽  
Sarah J Durkin ◽  
Kimberley Dunstone ◽  
Helen G Dixon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Drinking Alcohol ◽  
Reduce Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
Online Panel ◽  
Alcohol Harm Reduction

ObjectivesConduct a head-to-head experimental test of responses to alcohol harm reduction advertisements developed by alcohol industry Social Aspects/Public Relations Organisations (SAPROs) versus those developed by public health (PH) agencies. We hypothesised that, on average, SAPRO advertisements would be less effective at generating motivation (H1) and intentions to reduce alcohol consumption (H2) but more effective at generating positive perceptions of people who drink (H3).DesignOnline experiment with random assignment to condition.Participants2923 Australian adult weekly drinkers (49% high-risk drinkers) recruited from an opt-in online panel.InterventionsParticipants viewed 3 of 83 advertisements developed by PH agencies (n=2174) or 3 of 28 advertisements developed by SAPROs (n=749).Primary outcome measuresParticipants reported their motivation to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed; behave responsibly and/or not get drunk; and limit their drinking around/never supply to minors, as well as intentions to avoid drinking alcohol completely; reduce the number of drinking occasions; and reduce the amount of alcohol consumed per occasion. Participants also reported their perceptions of people who drink alcohol on six success-related items and four fun-related items.ResultsCompared with drinkers exposed to PH advertisements, those exposed to SAPRO advertisements reported lower motivation to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed (β=−0.091, 95% CI −0.171 to −0.010), and lower odds of intending to avoid alcohol completely (OR=0.77, 0.63 to 0.94) and to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed per occasion (OR=0.82, 0.69 to 0.97). SAPRO advertisements generated more favourable fun-related perceptions of drinkers (β=0.095, 0.013 to 0.177).ConclusionsThe alcohol harm reduction advertisements produced by alcohol industry SAPROs that were tested in this study were not as effective at generating motivation and intentions to reduce alcohol consumption as those developed by PH organisations. These findings raise questions as to whether SAPROs should play a role in alcohol harm reduction efforts.

scholarly journals Advancing public health policy making through research on the political strategies of alcohol industry actors

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim McCambridge ◽  
Kypros Kypri ◽  
Trevor A Sheldon ◽  
Mary Madden ◽  
Thomas F Babor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
The Political ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Alcohol Policies ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
Mortality Burden ◽  
Global Influence

Abstract Development and implementation of evidence-based policies is needed in order to ameliorate the rising toll of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Alcohol is a key cause of the mortality burden and alcohol policies are under-developed. This is due in part to the global influence of the alcohol industry. We propose that a better understanding of the methods and the effectiveness of alcohol industry influence on public health policies will support efforts to combat such influence, and advance global health. Many of the issues on the research agenda we propose will inform, and be informed by, research into the political influence of other commercial actors.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document