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European Alcohol Policy Alliance welcomes Commissioner-Designate Vytenis Andriukaitis

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european_alcohol_policy_alliance_welcomes_commissioner_designate_vytenis_andriukaitis_mediumEuropean Alcohol Policy Alliance has congratulated the Commissioner-designate for the Health Policy and Food Safety portfolio, Vytenis Andriukaitis. “We look forward to a continued good collaboration and we stress the need for action to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm. His first point on the agenda should be the renewal of the EU Alcohol Strategy to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm" said Secretary General of Eurocare Mariann Skar.

The EU Alcohol Strategy should complement the WHO 'European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol, 2012-2020' and must:

  • Be based on the best available scientific evidence (e.g as presented in Alcohol in the European Union WHO, 2012);
  • be informed and underpinned by a coherent policy framework;
  • address the full spectrum of alcohol problems within the EU and the need for whole population-level responses;
  • include an approach to all EU policy-making which supports reduction of alcohol harms;
  • set clear targets and objectives and be externally monitored and evaluated, and;
  • pay attention to the need to reduce health inequalities across the EU and within member states.

Alcohol is the world’s number-one risk factor for ill-health and premature death among the 25-59 year old age group, a core of the working age population. Europe is the heaviest drinking region of the world and alcohol is a major threat to the public health, safety and economic prosperity of EU citizens. Alcohol has been classified by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Category One carcinogen, defining it as a determinant of many types of cancer. Increased alcohol consumption is also linked to increasing levels of obesity and diabetes in European populations.

A substantial evidence base exists on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm. Effective interventions include population-level measures and those targeted at specific high-risk groups. A comprehensive Strategy needs to incorporate both types of intervention to reduce alcohol-related harm, not just for problem drinkers but also for other people, such as children, families and communities, who are negatively affected by their drinking behaviours.

The WHO European Action Plan, endorsed by member states at the Regional Committee for Europe in 2011, provides a template for action at EU level. Based on this,  European Alcohol Policy Alliance recommends the following items for inclusion in the EU Alcohol Strategy to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm:

  • Alcohol pricing policies;
  • marketing of alcoholic beverages;
  • availability of alcohol;
  • drink-driving policies and countermeasures;
  • consumer information – product labelling;
  • alcohol research and monitoring programmes, and;
  • capacity and network building and learning exchange.

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