The European Commission published their first Alcohol Strategy Report in 2006 in response to the harmful effects of alcohol consumption throughout the EU. The report stated that alcohol was responsible for approximately 195,000 deaths each year in the EU with an estimated €68bn cost to the economy. The publication described that alcohol consumption and abuse has contributed to unemployment, adolescent binge drinking, lower life expectancy, related accidents and ‘social harms’ including violence and aggression.
The report mentioned that there were sharp increases in alcohol consumption in eight countries particularly Estonia, Latvia and Poland. Although the level of alcohol consumption decreased in countries such as Luxembourg and Malta, the World Health Organization reported that Europe has the highest alcohol intake worldwide compared to any other region.
Since the publication of the EU report, most member states have put forward goals to reduce the level of alcohol related illnesses and deaths. Since 2006, Cyprus, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic and the UK have all adopted national strategies or made revisions to earlier acts. For example, Finland introduced new alcohol laws in 2007. These included demanding visible warning labels on all alcohol bottles and cans stating the health risks associated with alcohol, banning all alcohol television advertisements during certain hours and banning the sale of alcohol in supermarkets between 9pm and 9am.
In the UK, the 2009 Department of Health’s annual bulletin titled ‘Statistics on Alcohol, England’ reported that there were 863,300 alcohol related hospital admissions and 6,541 deaths directly related to alcohol in 2007/08, both figures rising sharply from previous years. Since then the UK government has launched advertising campaigns and alcohol strategies with the aim of reducing the amount of alcohol consumption in the UK. Scotland is currently deciding whether to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol in order to reduce the amount of alcohol consumption.
For a comprehensive list of alcohol related articles and publications including WHO, EU, and Government reports please click here. New EU Website |  Image courtesy: Health News Blog | |
