JANUARY 2014
The Local
(Germany) - Alcoholism in Germany rises by a third
The number of
alcoholics in Germany has increased by more than one third to almost
two million, with under-25s being particularly affected, according to
a study on Thursday.
Daily Mail (UK) -
How ministers 'caved into the alcohol lobby': 130 meetings with
supermarkets and drinks firms - then they shelved plan for minimum
alcohol price
Campaigners have
accused ministers of caving in to pressure from the drinks and
supermarket industries to drop plans to impose a minimum price for
alcohol.
Boston.com (USA) -
Obama: Pot is not more dangerous than alcohol
President Barack
Obama said he doesn’t think marijuana is more dangerous than
alcohol, ‘‘in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.’’
Fox News (USA) -
Alcohol consumption is the direct cause of 80,000 yearly deaths in
the Americas
Alcohol
consumption is the direct cause of nearly 80,000 deaths in the
Americas each year, according to a new study. Published in the
journal Addiction, the study analyzed yearly mortality rates from 16
countries in North and Latin America. The researchers focused on
deaths that were specifically attributed to alcohol, meaning death
would not have occurred without some form of alcohol consumption.
Daily News &
Analysis - Alcohol does not just gives you a kick, it can also
give you cancer: Lancet/WHO
Tipplers beware:
Alcohol leads to cancer of the mouth, throat, and food pipe.
Prestigious international medical journal Oral Oncology has said it
in its latest edition for the first time.
Daily Mail - One
binge in pregnancy 'harms child years later': Children 'more likely
to be badly behaved' if their mother drinks more than two glasses of
wine
Just one night out
during pregnancy can have long-lasting effects on the child’s
behaviour, a study suggests.
FEBRUARY 2014
The Guardian -
Alcohol, smoking and obesity fuel 'alarming' global cancer surge
A global drive to
tackle the causes of cancer linked to lifestyle, such as alcohol
abuse, sugar consumption and obesity, has been urged on Monday by the
World Health Organisation as it predicted the number of new cases
could soar 70% to nearly 25 million a year over the next 20 years.
The Guardian (UK)
- Minimum alcohol pricing would save 860 lives a year, study finds
Introducing
minimum pricing for alcohol would lead to 860 fewer deaths a year and
29,900 fewer hospital admissions among heavy-drinkers while having
only a slight effect on moderate drinkers, according to research into
the policy's impact.
Examiner.com -
World Cancer Day: Alcohol is a carcinogen
The Union for
International Cancer Control (UICC) uses Feb. 4 as World Cancer Day
to focus on debunking the myths about the world's leading killer. For
2014, the organization emphasizes the fifth point in their World
Cancer Declaration: "Reduce stigma and dispel myths about
cancer." One of many myths is that drinking alcohol is safe.
IceNews (Iceland)
- Iceland ranks lowest amongst adolescent alcohol drinkers in
Europe
Iceland has been
ranked amongst the lowest adolescent consumers of alcohol in Europe,
according to studies.
Pro Bono Australia
(Australia) - Protect Children From Alcohol Advertising: National
Report
The Not for Profit
sector has urged the Federal Government to act quickly to protect
children from unrestrained alcohol advertising on television,
following the release of a national report into alcohol marketing and
advertising.
Medical Daily -
Legal Drinking Age Of 21 Saves Lives Every Day: Alcohol Related
Injuries, Drunk Driving Significantly Less Common
A new review finds
that the current legal drinking age of 21 saves lives — but critics
say the benefits may come at the expense of a sensible alcohol
culture.
MARCH 2014
The Independent -
Drinking alcohol early in pregnancy, even in small amounts,
increases chances of harming your baby, study finds
Women who drink
less than the officially recommended intake of alcohol during the
first weeks of pregnancy may still be at higher risk of having
smaller babies or of giving birth prematurely compared to women who
do not drink alcohol at all, a study has found.
NL Times
(Netherlands) – Alcohol Poisoning up 350% in NL
5300 people ended
up in the emergency room last year, with alcohol poisoning. In 2012,
the number of drinkers who got alcohol poisoning, or ‘coma-drinkers’
stayed the same, it seems from figures out of consumer organization
VeiligheidNL (SafetyNL).
BBC News -
Alcohol-related brain damage report highlights concerns
A report into
alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) should serve as a "wake-up
call", Alcohol Concern Cymru said.
APRIL 2014
Medical News Today
- Teen binge drinking linked to identifying alcohol brands in pop
music
Every day in the
US, the average adolescent is exposed to 2.5 hours of popular music
and eight references to alcohol brands. And now, researchers have
found a link between binge drinking in teens and liking, owning or
correctly recognizing the brand names of alcohol mentioned in songs.
The Guardian - A
bottle of wine a day is harmless? The evidence suggests otherwise
Both the Daily
Mail and the Independent reported over the weekend that a bottle of
wine a day might not be bad for you. The articles quote a retired
Finnish professor, Kari Poikolainen.
The Guardian (UK)
- Cost of alcohol credited for drop in serious violence in England
and Wales
A decline in binge
drinking and the rising price of alcohol is behind a dramatic 12%
fall in the number of people injured in serious violence across
England and Wales last year, a pioneering academic research study
claims.
RT (Russia) -
Online booze ban: Lawmakers target internet alcohol sales
A ruling party MP
has drafted a bill banning online sales of alcohol in order to
improve state control in this sphere and protect customers from
buying uncertified and potentially dangerous drinks.
MAY 2014
The Guardian
(Scotland) - Minimum alcohol price plan referred to European court
by Scottish judges
A plan to set a
minimum price for all alcoholic drinks in Scotland has been referred
by appeal judges to the European court of justice, after a long legal
battle waged by the whisky industry.
Medscape - No
Amount of Alcohol Is Safe
"Responsible
drinking" has become a 21st-century mantra for how most people
view alcohol consumption. But when it comes to cancer, no amount of
alcohol is safe.[1] That is the conclusion of the 2014 World Cancer
Report (WCR), issued by the World Health Organization's International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
WalesOnline
(Wales) - 'Terrifying' drinking levels see Welsh hospitals dealing
with alcohol-related admission every 35 minutes
Hospitals in Wales
are dealing with an alcohol-related admission every 35 minutes on
average, shocking new figures have revealed. Statistics obtained by
WalesOnline show the number of admissions to Welsh hospitals where
alcohol was a primary or secondary diagnosis reached 14,907 in
2012-2013.
HealthCanal.com
(Australia) - Raising the legal age for alcohol purchase to 21
would reduce alcohol-related harm in Australia
There is strong
evidence and increasing support to raise the minimum age for
purchasing alcohol from 18 to 21, leading public health experts argue
in The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).
JUNE 2014
Headlines &
Global News - Listening to Words Related to Alcohol Increases
Aggression: Study
Listening to
alcohol related words leads to aggressive behavior in some people
similar to the effect of drinking, a new study shows.
The Globe and Mail
(Canada) - Canadians grossly underestimate their alcohol
consumption, study says
It turns out
Canadians lowball the amount of alcohol they drink by up to a
whopping 75 per cent, especially when it comes to wine.
The Guardian (UK)
- Alcohol firms funding charities in order to gain political
influence, claims study
Alcohol firms are
adopting contentious tactics pioneered by the tobacco industry by
funding charities in order to gain influence inside government,
researchers claim in a new study published on Tuesday.
MinnPost.com
(Brazil) - Alcohol industry wins, public health loses at World Cup
2014
Brazil may be
favored to win the 2014 World Cup, which begins on Thursday, but the
real winner will be the alcohol industry — and the real loser will
be public health — according to a troubling article published today
in the BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical Journal).
JULY 2014
FleetNews (EU) -
EU backs future role for alcohol interlocks
Two new EU reports
support measures to boost the use of alcohol interlocks in passenger
and goods vehicles in the EU. The study by Italian consultancy TRT
for the European Parliament (EP) goes as far as recommending
legislation.
EurActiv (EU) -
Alcohol still the number one killer on Europe's roads
Alcohol remains
the number one substance endangering lives on European roads. But use
of drugs and medicines behind the wheel, also combined with alcohol,
is likewise a major challenge for policymakers, says a new report by
the EU's drug agency EMCDDA.
Helsinki Times
(Finland) - Study: Most Finns suffer from other people's alcohol
use
Those who work in
preventive substance work are disappointed by the fact that
government parties decided to suspend the alcohol legislation
amendment recently. The main objective of the reform was to
significantly reduce the adverse effects of alcohol, and it was set
to come into effect by 2015.
AUGUST 2014
PsychCentral.com -
Alcohol Commercials Strongly Affect Underage Drinkers
New research shows
a strong link between alcohol advertising and underage drinking. In
fact, young drinkers are three times more likely to choose alcohol
brands whose commercials appear on their favorite television shows
compared to other alcohol brands, according to a new study from the
Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Boston University School of
Public Health.
MorningAdvertiser.co.uk
(EU) - Inquiry launched into new EU Alcohol Strategy
The House of Lords
is urging the pub sector to give its views on a new EU Alcohol
Strategy.
The Age
(Australia) - Alcohol kills 15 Australians a day, national report
shows
Fifteen
Australians die each day and 430 are hospitalised because of alcohol,
according to a report on the national burden of booze.
Wall Street
Journal - Which Country Drinks the Most Alcohol?
It has been
established that the most expensive beer in the world is sold in
Norway, while the cheapest can be chugged in Poland. But in which
country is the most alcohol drunk?
CNBCAfrica.com -
ALCOHOL ADVERTISING BANS SWEEP SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
The ban on alcohol
advertising is picking up steam as Kenya, Botswana and South Africa
gear up to impose the new regulations in the sector.
SEPTEMBER 2014
New Channel Daily
- No Amount of Alcohol Safe, says World Health Organization
The long-held
belief that moderate alcohol consumption benefits one’s health has
been contradicted by many studies in the past, creating mixed
opinions on the belief. However, earlier this year, the World Health
Organization released a report that vehemently suggested a link
between cancer and alcohol, which ultimately labeled any amount of
alcohol unsafe.
Johns Hopkins
News-Letter - "Drink Responsibly" campaigns found to be
ineffective
Vague,
indeterminate and ubiquitous, the "Drink Responsibly"
message featured in alcohol advertisements fails to explicate the
details of safe drinking, instead promoting consumer loyalty to
brands associated with such slogans.
OCTOBER 2014
CBC.ca (Canada) -
Moderate alcohol use increases breast cancer risk, UVic study says
Even moderate
drinkers face an elevated risk of developing breast cancer, according
to a new study from the University of Victoria’s Centre for
Addictions Research of B.C. (CARBC).
WebMD - More
Kids Harmed by Pregnant Drinking Than Thought
Although drinking
during pregnancy has long been considered taboo, new research
suggests that as many as one in 20 U.S. children may have health or
behavioral problems related to alcohol exposure before birth.
NOVEMBER 2014
The Telegraph -
FIA President Jean Todt under fire for failure to ban alcohol
sponsorship in Formula One
Jean Todt, the FIA
President, has come under fire for failing to ban alcohol sponsorship
in Formula One, as pressure to ban alcohol advertising in sport at a
European level grows.
BMC Medicine - Why
does society accept a higher risk for alcohol than for other
voluntary or involuntary risks?
Societies tend to
accept much higher risks for voluntary behaviours, those based on
individual decisions (for example, to smoke, to consume alcohol, or
to ski), than for involuntary exposure such as exposure to risks in
soil, drinking water or air. In high-income societies, an acceptable
risk to those voluntarily engaging in a risky behaviour seems to be
about one death in 1,000 on a lifetime basis.
New Zealand Herald
(New Zealand) - 92% of emergency staff abused by drunks, poll
finds
Pushing, punching,
spitting and biting are all behaviours emergency department staff
have to deal with when treating drunk patients, a new survey has
found - and a startling nine out of every 10 staff have been
subjected to the abuse.
Medical News Today
- Moderate alcohol benefits: only for 15% of population
Alcoholic
consumption (ethanol intake) at "moderate" level, up to 1
drink a day for women (corresponding to 14 g or 0.6 ounces of
ethanol) and 2 drinks a day for men is associated with a decreased
risk of coronary heart disease.
TheParliamentMagazine.eu
(EU) - Alcohol must be 'top public health priority'
Raising awareness
and developing a common evidence base are crucial to reducing
alcohol-related harm, write Gauden Galea and Lars Møller.
DECEMBER 2014
The Moscow Times
(Russia) - Alcohol Kills 500,000 Russians Annually
Around 500,000
Russians die due to alcohol abuse every year, Russia's health and
safety watchdog said in a statement Monday.
Daily Mail -
Drinking a glass of wine is the same as downing three shots of
vodka, says NHS chief as he warns of 'silent killer'
An NHS chief has
said alcohol is becoming a 'silent killer' in the UK as he warned
middle class drinkers that a glass of wine is just as harmful as
downing three shots of vodka.
BBC News (UK) -
Minimum alcohol price law 'could save £900m'
Setting a minimum
alcohol price of 50p per unit could save Wales nearly £900m over 20
years by cutting crime and illness, a report has claimed.
BBC News - Foetal
alcohol syndrome case dismissed by Court of Appeal
A child born with
foetal alcohol syndrome is not legally entitled to compensation after
her mother drank excessively while pregnant, the Court of Appeal has
ruled.
Channel News Asia
- 1 in 10 fatal accidents worldwide linked to alcohol: Study
Middle East, the
Asia Pacific and Africa trend below global average, according to
World Health Organisation data analysed by Allianz.
