Alcohol and drug problems

For many, consuming alcohol may seem an easy way to cope with everyday problems.   That view is certainly reinforced by images in alcohol promotions that hammer home the notion that alcohol offers a taste of luxury, recreation, and entrée into a world free of everyday worries.   Not so apparent are the myriad health and other problems created by alcohol use that impose additional burdens on poor people, generate substantial problems for society, and become onerous stumbling blocks for development. 

WHO-report-2-landscape

And an analysis of whether they have succeeded or not

Report on efforts from alcohol companies to influence WHO alcohol action plan

Alcohol companies and their lobby groups are systematically working to undermine and water down global alcohol policies that would reduce the harms associated with their products, according to new report.

24. January 2022
Cover, WHF, policy brief

Policy brief from the World Heart Federation

Disproving the myths of alcohol and cardiovascular health

In a new policy brief, the World Heart Federation (WHF) is challenging the widespread notion that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol can decrease the risk of heart disease, and calling for urgent and decisive action to tackle the unprecedented rise in alcohol-related death and disability worldwide.

24. January 2022
Cover image, EUCAMs report on seven messages of the alcohol industry

Revised edition: The seven key messages of the alcohol industry

11 years after the first edition European Centre for Monitoring Alcohol Marketing (EUCAM) has published a revised edition of its analysis of the key mesages of the alcohol industry.  

21. January 2022
Cover page, SAAPA, SAMRC report, GBV and alcohol

Evidence review from Southern Africa

Alcohol availability - a key issue in gender-based violence

Alcohol consumption is a key structural driver of gender-based violence (GBV) and especially intimate partner violence (IPV). A new report from four countries in sub-Sahara Africa explores how the availability of alcohol – both alcohol outlet density and trading times – are associated with increased alcohol use, and increased risk for GBV perpetration and vicitimisation.

21. January 2022
cover image on report, a truck heavily loaded with people, bicycles and equipment along a road in Malawi, Frica

Report from The World Bank Group

The Role of Alcohol in Road Traffic injuries in Malawi

The number of road traffic accidents has decreased in high-income countries the last ten years. The opposite is the trend for low- and middle-income countries. This report shows that there is a very clear connection between alcohol use and road traffic accidents in Malawi.

09. July 2021
Cover image, shows man and woman facing each other and a hand writing on a white board

First report from Drug Policy Futures launched

Monitoring the implementation of the UNGASS agreement

The report launched in April 2021 takes a closer look at what has happened in the form of national follow-up of the UNGASS Outcome Document in 15 selected countries. It also contains the recomenndations from Drug Policy Futures to the UN Member States.

09. July 2021
OECD alcohol report front page

OECD puts alcohol on the agenda:

New report highlights benefits of policy measures to prevent harmful alcohol consumption

OECD recently released the report “Preventing harmful alcohol use”. It highlights that if governments invest in policies to reduce harmful alcohol consumption, they could save millions of lives. The economic benefits of putting them in place would also be much higher than the costs.

28. May 2021
Alcohol and the coronavirus front page

New report:

Highlighting the COVID-19 – alcohol connection

A new report ‘Alcohol and the coronavirus pandemic: individual, societal and policy perspectives’ by a group of researchers was released recently. They investigate the links between alcohol use and COVID-19, both for individuals and society – from physiological effects on the immune system to alcohol venues’ role in ‘super-spreader’ events.

28. January 2021
GBD illustration

Global Burden of Disease updated figures 2019:

Alcohol among risk factors increasing

The Lancet recently published the systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study, with updated figures for 87 risk factors for ill health, disability, and death. Among them alcohol is the leading risk factor for those aged 25-49, with increasing risks across all ‘socio-demographic development’ groups of countries.

29. October 2020
Commercial alcohol poster, Kampala Uganda

Opinion:

Covid-19 shows us why certain investments of the Norwegian oil fund is unethical

The Covid-19 pandemic shows us why the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (the oil fund) must stop investing in alcohol. In South Africa the strict alcohol regulations during the pandemic have led to startling results.

03. September 2020