News

First ALICE RAP Policy Brief, ‘Alcohol – the Neglected Addiction’

13-06-2012

The ALICE RAP Policy Brief 1 – ‘Alcohol – the neglected addiction’ aims to provide a succinct overview on the scientific evidence for decision-makers and advocates working on creating effective alcohol policy.

ALICE RAP (Addiction and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe - Reframing Addictions Project) is a five year European research project, co-financed by the European Commission which aims to strengthen scientific evidence to inform the public and political dialogue and to stimulate a broad and productive debate on current and alternative approaches to addictions.

Download the policy brief here

Other News:

02-06-2014 - From now on, all relevant news related to addictions can be found in ALICE RAP website

28-06-2013 - A message to the European Sponsorship Agency: research shows that alcohol marketing is not harmless

03-06-2013 - Vested interests in addiction research and policy - New publication

28-05-2013 - Online Conference on Digital Alcohol Marketing (Online, 31st October 2013)

28-05-2013 - European Week Against Cancer (Dublin-Ireland, 29-30th May 2013)

28-05-2013 - INEBRIA Conference (Rome-Italy, 19-20th September 2013)

27-05-2013 - Impact Factor Distortions

27-05-2013 - Health in All Policies: Seizing opportunities, implementing policies

15-05-2013 - Awareness Week on Alcohol-Related Harm A group of organisations have come together to raise awareness among EU policy makers of alcohol-related harms by initiating the first European Awareness Week on Alcohol-Related Harm (AWARH’13), to be held from 13 to 17 May 2013. The AWARH’13, which will have the participation and contribution of several AMPHORA researchers, aims to highlight the negative effects of alcohol and call for greater action to address the problems it can cause.
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Throughout the Week, several events and actions will be organised to encourage policy-makers and citizens to state their commitment to tackle alcohol-related harm and show support to address one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Europe.</div>
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"> </div>
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">On 15 May, Nessa Childers MEP (S&D, Ireland) will host a policy event in the <a href=\"http://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en\" target=\"_blank\">European Parliament</a> entitled ‘Time for action: The need for an integrated EU alcohol strategy’ (agenda available <a href=\"http://oursocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Agenda_Time-for-action-the-need-for-an-integrated-EU-alcohol-strategy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>). This event, at which the AMPHORA project results will be presented, will explore how EU policies can continue to tackle alcohol-related harm and will see the launch of the ‘<a href=\"http://oursocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Conclusions-of-the-EU-Roundtable-on-an-Integrated-Approach-to-Alcohol-Related-Harm.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Conclusions of the EU Roundtable on an Integrated Approach to Alcohol Related Harm</a>‘.</div>
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"> </div>
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Professor Peter Anderson and Dr. Antoni Gual, leaders of AMPHORA Project discuss why they support the first Awareness Week on Alcohol Related Harm.</div>
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"> </div>
<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"> Professor Peter Anderson - Universities of Maastricht and Newcastle </div>
<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/rWA_O_fKVsA\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"></iframe>
 
Dr. Antoni Gual - Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/csXRwIoUtOw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"></iframe>
 
<ul>
<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Download press release on AMPHORA participation in AWARH\'13 <a href=\"/files/file/AMPHORA_Press_Release_AWARH13_150513.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Download the press release, agendas for the events and other materials of AWARH\'13 <a href=\"http://oursocialmedia.com/1/brussels-burson-marsteller/tackling-alcohol-related-harm-i%E2%80%99m-in/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>. </li>
<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sign the electronic commitement to tackle alcohol-related harm in Europe <a href=\"https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AWARH\" target=\"_blank\">here</a>. </li>
</ul>

26-04-2013 - Relationship between minimum alcohol prices and alcohol-attributable hospital admissions

15-04-2013 - Health in the Post - 2015 Agenda

12-04-2013 - Doctors & alcohol industry:an unhealthy mix?-New BMJ article on the GAPA Statement of Concern The British Medical Journal (BMJ) published an in-depth article on the GAPA-WHO Statement of Concern issued on February 2013. This BMJ piece received a very positive supporting statement in the form of a rapid response from WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan, which you can see in the following link:
<a href=\"http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1889?tab=responses\" data-mce-href=\"http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1889?tab=responses\" style=\"color: rgb(98, 153, 198);\">http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1889?tab=responses</a>
On October 8th 2012, thirteen of world’s largest alcohol producers issued a set of commitments to reduce the harmful use of alcohol worldwide, ostensibly in support of the World Health Organization’s 2010 Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol.
The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (<a data-mce-href=\"http://www.globalgapa.org/\" href=\"http://www.globalgapa.org/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify; color: rgb(51, 68, 86);\">GAPA</a>), as an independent coalition of public health professionals, health scientists and NGO representatives, submitted a public Statement of Concern to the WHO Secretariat in response to the activities of the global alcohol producers. Discussions on industry involvement at the AMPHORA project final conference have contributed to this document.
Download <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1889\" style=\"color: rgb(51, 68, 86); font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;\">here</a> the BMJ article. 
Download <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.amphoraproject.net/files/WHO%20statement%20of%20concern%20final%208%20Feb%202013.pdf\" style=\"color: rgb(51, 68, 86);\">here</a> the Statement of Concern.

09-04-2013 - Global Alcohol Policy Conference 2013 (Seoul-Republic of Korea, 7-9th October 2013)

20-03-2013 - Drug harms in the EU - A fresh look at science and policy (Brussels-Belgium, 15-16th May 2013)

18-03-2013 - The European health report 2012

18-03-2013 - Communicating EU Research & Innovation

01-03-2013 - Health First: An evidence-based alcohol strategy for the UK

19-02-2013 - An international legal strategy for alcohol control: not a framework convention—at least not yet

18-02-2013 - WHO Statement of concern

18-02-2013 - The relationship between minimum alcohol prices and alcohol attributable deaths

18-02-2013 - Liver disease in Europe

14-02-2013 - New study on early drunkenness as a risk factor for problem behaviors among adolescents

14-02-2013 - Eyes on Ages Network Conference (Amsterdam-Holland, 30th May 2013)

29-01-2013 - Effectiveness of a Selective, Personality-Targeted Prevention Program for Adolescent Alcohol Use

29-01-2013 - A public response to the Adam Smith Institute’s critique of the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model

22-01-2013 - Public health, academic medicine, and alcohol industry\'s corporate social responsibility activities

22-01-2013 - Alcohol problems in the criminal justice system - New WHO study

15-01-2013 - New database on alcohol policy regulation in Europe

08-01-2013 - The Alcohol Research UK Conference 2013 (London-UK, 12th March 2013)

04-01-2013 - Do time restrictions on alcohol advertising reduce youth exposure? - New Study

02-01-2013 - The Rise of Strong Beers in Europe

20-12-2012 - Complexity: Researching alcohol & other drugs in a multiple world (Aarhus, 21st-23rd April 2013)

20-12-2012 - Alcohol Policy 16 Conference (Washington DC-USA, 3rd-5th April 2013)

20-12-2012 - KBS Conference 2013 (Kampala-Uganda, 3rd-7th June 2013)

19-12-2012 - European action plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol 2012–2020

19-12-2012 - New Study - Longitudinal Changes in White Matter Integrity Among Adolescent Substance Users

17-12-2012 - Global Burden of Disease Study 2010

17-12-2012 - Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines in Europe — DRUID project

20-11-2012 - Assessment of young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing in audiovisual and online media

20-11-2012 - An overview of the market for alcoholic beverages of potentially particular appeal to minors

27-07-2012 - NordAN Conference (Malmö-Sweden 20th-21st October 2012)

27-07-2012 - Willing consumers? Alcohol marketing and how to challenge it (Cardiff-UK, 6th September 2012)

18-07-2012 - INEBRIA Conference (Barcelona-Spain, 27-28th September 2012)

18-07-2012 - Study on the effect of alcohol portrayals in movies, music videos and soap operas among youngsters

18-07-2012 - Doctors call for ban on TV adverts for alcohol in UK

25-06-2012 - Under Control? (Bristol-UK, 21st-23rd June 2013)

13-06-2012 - Reducing Public Drunkenness and Over-serving Related Violence (Stockholm, 15-16th November 2012)

13-06-2012 - Addiction: What is the Added Value of the Concept Today? (Helsinki-Finland, 14-17th October 2012)

13-06-2012 - First ALICE RAP Policy Brief, ‘Alcohol – the Neglected Addiction’

11-06-2012 - Alcohol Policy Network Meeting (Stockholm-Sweden, 17th October 2012)

12-06-2012 - AMMIE Sports Sponsoring Reports

12-06-2012 - Study on optimal level of alcohol consumption for chronic disease prevention BMJ Open published recently a research paper on modelling the impact of changes in average alcohol consumption levels in England, with a view to identify the optimal level of population alcohol consumption for chronic disease prevention.
The study highlights that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for many chronic diseases, while providing modest protection from others. Assessments of the impact of alcohol on individual chronic diseases can therefore result in contradictory advice about the level of alcohol consumption that is optimal for health.
According to the study, the UK Government currently recommends that men should consume no more than three to four units per day (24–32 g/day of pure alcohol) and women should drink no more than two to three units per day (16–24 g/day). However the net impact of this level of consumption on chronic disease mortality is unclear.
Results suggest that the optimum population level of alcohol consumption for minimising chronic disease mortality in England is just 5 g (approximately half a unit) per day.
Current recommendations for alcohol consumption are well above this level and may not be compatible with optimum protection of public health. Substantial reductions in recommendations and in population alcohol consumption levels would be needed to minimise the chronic disease burden associated with alcohol consumption in England.
Community beliefs in the protective role of alcohol in cardiovascular disease are widespread; however, our modelling shows that when multiple conditions are considered simultaneously, the levels of alcohol that would actually be likely to be associated with reduced risk of chronic disease are much lower than is generally accepted or recommended by government.
For more information, please see the following link:
<a href=\"http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/3/e000957.long#aff-1\" target=\"_blank\">http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/3/e000957.long#aff-1</a>

18-07-2012 - New ESPAD study shows a reduction in heavy episodic drinking among youngsters

12-06-2012 - RAND launches a new study on the affordability of alcoholic beverages in the EU

12-06-2012 - Scottish Government set to lower drink-drive limit

12-06-2012 - The struggle over Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol has only just begun

18-07-2012 - Scotland sets its minimum alcohol price at 50p per unit

18-07-2012 - New report by CAMH on alcohol consumption, dependance and attributable burden of disease in Europe

12-06-2012 - Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs draft bill to limit alcohol advertising

12-06-2012 - Shocking findings from EU project AMMIE on alcohol marketing to minors

17-07-2012 - WHO releases the study Alcohol in the European Union. Consumption, harm and policy approaches

12-06-2012 - Minimum alcohol price planned for England and Wales

20-03-2012 - AMPHORA Final Conference (Stockholm-Sweden 18-19th October 2012)

26-07-2011 - New AMPHORA database on scientific evidence on alcohol

28-06-2011 - First European Network Conference on Reducing Youth Drinking

27-06-2011 - 2012 AMPHORA meeting /Berzelius Symposium 87

27-06-2011 - ALICE-RAP project kick-off

21-06-2011 - Uploaded 2011 AMPHORA-WHO meeting documents

23-03-2011 - AMPHORA Addiction Supplement

23-03-2011 - Provisional programme and Joining Instructions: WHO-AMPHORA meeting

26-11-2010 - Alcohol leads the list of harmful drugs in the UK

20-10-2010 - 3-5 May 2011, Zurich: WHO National Counterparts for Alcohol Policy in the WHO European Region

02-07-2010 - 7th Conference of INEBRIA, 9 - 10 September 2010, Gothenburg, Sweden

01-07-2010 - 2010 ISBRA World Congress, 13 -16 September 2010, Paris, France

10-06-2010 - Provisional programme WHO - AMPHORA meeting - Madrid 2010

26-04-2010 - EMCCDA gathered information on alcohol-related harm reduction

22-04-2010 - Released: Eurobarometer on attitudes towards alcohol

20-04-2010 - The British government outlaws drinking promotions

12-04-2010 - Alarming alcohol-related harm detected in Brighton

06-04-2010 - The European Parliament did not support labelling on alcohol beverages.

06-04-2010 - Lunch seminar on alcohol marketing and young people

29-03-2010 - Further evidence of the effect of alcohol pricing on health

18-03-2010 - 3rd Open Forum on Alcohol and Health, 22 April 2010, Brussels

15-03-2010 - 4th European Alcohol Policy Conference, 21-22 June 2010, Brussels

15-03-2010 - Scottish charities for children support minimum alcohol pricing

15-03-2010 - Report on attitudes of young people towards alcohol

11-03-2010 - AMPHORA has been widely disseminated during the first year of operation AMPHORA has been widely disseminated in relevant conferences, workshops and networks during the first year of operation, including:
<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.ias.org.uk/buildingcapacity/apn/meetings/stockholm0609/index.html\">The Third Meeting of Alcohol Policy Network</a>, 10-12 June 2009, in the framework of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.ias.org.uk/buildingcapacity/index.html\">The Building Capacity Project</a>, in Stockholm.
The three-day programme included presentations on three key topics of AMPHORA. Peter Anderson discussed the importance of translating science into policy. After, Esa Österberg highlighted the relevance of an evidence base on the economic and physical availability of alcohol. Also, Dirk Lachenmeier described the contribution of AMPHORA on the analysis of illegal and surrogate alcohol. The presentations are available here (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.ias.org.uk/buildingcapacity/apn/meetings/stockholm0609/apn-amphora-presentation.pdf\">PAnderson,</a> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.ias.org.uk/buildingcapacity/apn/meetings/stockholm0609/apn-amphora-availability-alcohol.pdf\">EÖsterberg</a>, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.ias.org.uk/buildingcapacity/apn/meetings/stockholm0609/apn-amphora-unrecorded-alcohol.pdf\">DLachenmeier</a>).
<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.se2009.eu/en/meetings_news/2009/9/21/expert_conference_on_alcohol_and_health\">The  Expert Conference on Alcohol and Health</a> organized by The Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, in cooperation with  Directorate General for Health and Consumers of the European Commission, 21-22 September 2009, in Stockholm.
The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.se2009.eu/polopoly_fs/1.15210!menu/standard/file/Program_alkoholm%C3%B6te_web_090917.pdf\">programme</a> of the second day included the workshop "From science into policy - what the AMPHORA project tells us". Antoni Gual, coordinator of AMPHORA, discussed the importance of an evidence base to inform policy- and decision-makers at European, national and local levels for the implementation effective interventions to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. You may want to check a full <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"/files/file/90912%20Stockholm%20Autorun.pdf\">presentation</a> of the project and the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://vms.qbrick.com/?cid=&mid=84D06CF1\">webcast</a>.
<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.addiction-ssa.org/ssa_10.htm\">The Annual Symposium</a> of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.addiction-ssa.org/\">The Society for the Study of Addiction,</a>12-13 November 2009, in York.
Treatment policy was the main topic for discussion and the programme of the second day included a lecture of Antoni Gual, coordinator of AMPHORA, on European Alcohol Policy.
The Public Health Research Conference: A project for the Future organized by The Health Department of The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.gencat.cat/salut/depsalut/html/en/Du51/index.html\">Generalitat de Catalunya</a>, 3 February 2010, in Barcelona. 
The main purposes were the internal dissemination on ongoing research projects as well as definition of research priorities and promotion of cross-sectional studies in areas of public health. The programme included a large number of poster presentations and lectures on drug-dependence and mental health, nutrition and health, environment and health and transmissible diseases.
The 18th European Congress of Psychiatry of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://www.europsy.net/\">The European Psychiatric Association</a>, 27 February to 2 March 2010, in Munich.
The scientific program included plenary lectures, symposia, workshops, a three-day program for young psychiatrists and CME courses. The poster “Creation of the Alcohol Public Health Research Alliance (AMPHORA)" was selected for presentation and is available <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"/files/file/Amphora%20munchen%202010.pdf\">here</a>.

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