Authors: Alan Brennan, John Holmes, Yang Meng and Robin Purshouse (University of Sheffield)

This document is the response from the University of Sheffield (Shiefield Alcohol Research Group) to a recent report by the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) critiquing the Shieffield Alcohol Policy Model which applies to the effectiveness of minimum pricing.

Author: Robin Room (Stockholm University, University of Melbourne and Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre)

Article by Professor Robin Room from the Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre (Australia) in response to the publication "An international legal strategy for alcohol control: not a framework convention—at least not yet" by authors Allyn L. Taylor and Ibadat S. Dhillon.

Author: Irmgard Eisenbach-Stangl (European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research)

On the search for factors explaining the changes of alcohol consumption in European countries one quickly comes across preventive activities to reduce alcohol-related problems and/or alcohol consumption mostly taken by the state and occasionally also by other stakeholders such as e.g. the economy or social movements. Looking at them it becomes as quickly clear that the impact of prevention measures on consumption is everything else but simple.

The great diversity of preventive measures offers inspiration and orientation as well as an excellent occasion to evaluate, reconsider and improve interventions. Unfortunately the interesting research field is underdeveloped and until today misses a common reference frame that allows and facilitates comparisons. The Policy Brief intends to contribute to the development of such a frame.

Edited by: Peter Anderson (Newcastle University and Maastricht University), Marc Suhrcke (University of East Anglia) and Chris Brookes (Health Action Partnership International)

This report by NHF/HAPI was commissioned by the European Commission to provide a European Union wide overview of the market and regulation regarding types of alcoholic beverages with potentially particular appeal to minors. This topic is important because minors are at disproportionately greater risk from the harmful effects of alcohol than their parents or adults in general, and harmful drinking patterns in early life can have lifelong consequences. Thus, if there are alcoholic beverages that particularly appeal to minors and contribute disproportionately to alcohol-related harm, it is important to know this. The report aims to provide better understanding of alcoholic beverages that appeal to minors and to inform those who have responsibility for advising on alcohol policy either at country or European levels.

Author: The Lancet

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) is the largest ever systematic effort to describe the global distribution and causes of a wide array of major diseases, injuries, and health risk factors. It consists of seven articles, each containing a wealth of data on different aspects of the study.

According to this study, in 2010, tobacco smoking was the world’s second and alcohol the world’s third most important risk factor for disability adjusted life years (a composite measure of years lived with disability and years of life lost due to premature death), after high blood pressure. Alcohol moved up from 6th place in 1990, and tobacco from 3rd place. Drug use clocked in as 19th out of 20 risk factors in 2010, and did not make the top 20 in 1990.

Check here the complete list of articles of GBD 2010.