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INTRODUCE CIGARETTE-STYLE LABELLING
FOR ALCOHOL, SAYS PUBLIC HEALTH BODY
IT SHOULD BE ‘MANDATORY’ to include the
government’s low-risk drinking guidelines of 14 units
per week on alcohol labels, says the Royal Society for
Public Health (RSPH), alongside calorie-content
information and warnings about drink driving. Labels
could also potentially feature ‘explicit cigarette-style
warnings of the link with health conditions such as
bowel and breast cancer’ as well ‘traffic light’ colour
coding, the organisation states.
The recommendations form part of a new report,
Labelling the point, published in response to a perceived
‘alcohol health awareness vacuum’. Only ten per cent of
people are aware of the links between alcohol and
cancer, says RSPH, while just 16 per cent are aware of the
government’s unit guidelines and only 20 per cent are
able to correctly estimate the number of calories in a
glass of wine. Including information on calorie content
per serving could result in a ten per cent swing in
‘consumer purchasing decisions from the highest alcohol
drinks to the lowest’, across all main drink categories and
socio-economic groups, the document claims.
The report is partly based on a survey of around
1,800 people originally commissioned in partnership
with industry body the Portman Group. However, the
Portman Group has since ‘moved to make alcohol labels
even less informative to the public than they are at
present’, says RSPH, by releasing updated guidelines to
manufacturers that no longer include the government’s
low-risk drinking limits. Unit information alone is ‘largely
useless’ to most consumers unless shown in the context
of the recommended weekly limits, stresses RSPH. The
Portman Group’s updated guidance indicates that the
body is ‘no longer serious about setting a challenge for
industry to play their part in informing the public and
protecting their health’, the royal society adds.
‘Having a drink with friends or family is something
many of us enjoy. However, the potential health
consequences of alcohol consumption are more serious
than many people realise,’ said RSPH chief executive
Shirley Cramer.
‘If and when people choose to drink, they have the
right to do so with full knowledge of both what their
drink contains and the effects it could have. Consumer
health information and warnings are now mandatory
CEASING CESSATION
JUST 61 PER CENT OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES
now offer smokers access to ‘evidence-
based support’, according to a report from
Cancer Research UK and ASH. Cuts to the
public health budget have meant ‘dramatic
changes’ to smoking cessation services,
says the document, with at least one
English council now having a ‘zero budget’
to address smoking. ‘Shrinking public
health budgets make it tougher to provide
smokers with quit services while tobacco
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and readily
available on most
products from
tobacco to food
and soft drinks,
but alcohol
continues to lag
behind. If we are
to raise awareness
and reduce alcohol
harm, this must
change.’
The Portman
Group’s decision to
‘weaken’ their
labelling
recommendations
showed that
‘alcohol producers
wish to withhold
information on
alcohol and health
from the public’,
John tiMothY
added Alcohol
Health Alliance
chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore.
However, Portman Group chief executive John
Timothy responded by saying that the original research
co-funded with RSPH ‘found little public interest in a
radical overhaul of drinks labelling, and strong
opposition to cramming more information’ onto
packaging. It showed that 86 per cent of consumers ‘only
look at labels for factual information and branding’ and
80 per cent wanted to see ‘less cluttered’ labels. ‘When
asked specifically about health, 70 per cent said the
current approach was about right,’ he stated.
‘These findings support the approach taken by the
industry in developing updated voluntary guidance
which includes a whole section on how producers can
display the CMO’s guidelines on labels,’ he continued.
‘To suggest otherwise is misrepresentative. The Portman
Group remains committed to providing consumers with
accurate and accessible health information.’
Report at www.rsph.org.uk
there is little
public interest
in a radical
overhaul of
drinks labelling.
companies pocket a billion in profit every
year in the UK,’ said ASH chief executive
Deborah Arnott.’ The government should
place a levy on the industry to fund the
support smokers need.’ Feeling the heat:
the decline of stop smoking services in
England, at www.cancerresearchuk.org.
‘the government
should place a levy on
the industry’ deborAh Arnott
SCOT CALL
THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT should produce
a hepatitis C prevention strategy with targets
to ‘decrease national incidence, mortality and
overall prevalence’, says a report from the
Hepatitis C Trust. The document also urges the
government to establish opt-out testing in
substance misuse services and issue guidance
on its effective implementation in prisons.
‘Without renewed efforts to find and treat the
thousands of undiagnosed patients living with
hepatitis C, Scotland may no longer be
considered a world leader in tackling this
deadly virus,’ said trust chief executive Charles
Gore. Meanwhile, England could be on course
to be the first country in the world to eliminate
hep C, according to the NHS, with the health
service and drug companies working together
to identify more people who need treatment.
Eliminating hepatitis C in Scotland: a call to
action at www.hepctrust.org.uk
PRICED OUT
MORE THAN 100 MPS , police commissioners,
charities and health organisations have called
for minimum pricing to be implemented in
England ‘immediately’. ‘Lives will be lost if
Westminster delays further on the issue’, said
an open letter to the Sunday Times signed by
representatives of the royal colleges of
physicians, psychiatrists, nursing, GPs and
anaesthetists, as well as the BMA, Cancer
Research UK, the Children’s Society and
others. Minimum pricing will be introduced in
Scotland in May, following a five-year delay as
a result of legal challenges from the drinks
industry (DDN, December/January, page 4). A
similar delay in England would lead to more
than 1,000 deaths and 182,000 alcohol-
related crimes, the letter claims, as well as a
cost to the NHS of £326m.
LANGUAGE MATTERS
NEGATIVE PORTRAYALS IN THE MEDIA and
politics are reinforcing the perception that
drug use is ‘immoral’ and people who use
drugs are a threat to society, says a report
from the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
This in turn increases stigma and
discrimination and means that people who
use drugs are seen as ‘sub-human, non-
citizens, scapegoats for wider societal
problems’ and undeserving of the right to
health, says The world drug perception
problem: countering prejudices about people
who use drugs. Policy makers should aim to
change perceptions of drugs and people who
use them by providing reliable and consistent
information, the report urges, while ‘opinion
leaders’ in the media should promote the use
of non-stigmatising language. Report at
www.globalcommissionondrugs.org
February 2018 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5