Public Health Needs and Priorities of the new EU Strategy on Alcohol “Alcohol in all policies - Roadmap for action at the EU level” workshop 6th European Alcohol Policy Conference (6EAPC) 27 November 2014 Zoltán Massay-Kosubek European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

Why a new EU alcohol strategy? Harmful alcohol consumption Evidence base Wholly attributable alcohol deaths Alcohol = 75% of each All liver deaths

Why a new EU alcohol strategy? Trends in liver cirrhosis death rates three groups of member states Low Cyprus, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden Decreasing France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain High or increasing Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and United Kingdom Liver death rate

Why a new EU alcohol strategy? Trends in population alcohol consumption same groups of member states Alcohol consumption / capita

Alcohol consumption and Health inequalities Evidence shows that the burden of disease and alcohol-related harm affects people in low-income households the most The biggest increase in the number of deaths is found to be amongst the unemployed, early-age pensioners and those with low education, social class or incomes Alcohol control policy should target heavy drinkers and may have a very minor impact for moderate drinkers. Harmful drinkers buy more alcohol and tend to choose cheaper options.

Alcohol and Health in Europe Specific policy processes relevant for alcohol 1.) EU alcohol strategy 2.) EU action plan 3.) Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) on alcohol 4.) Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AMSD) 5.) European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF)

General Principles for the new EU Strategy on alcohol The new strategy should focus on prevention and health promotion Population wide approach: we need a broader scope (the EU action plan focuses only on binge drinking and young people) Mindset change: moving from a demands-side approach to a supply-side approach

Needs and priorities of the new EU Strategy on alcohol Demands-side approach: focusing on consumers to regulate their own alcohol consumption (preferred industry solution) 1.) Education 2.) Information 3.) Awareness rasising (helping people to change their behaviour) 4.) Self-regulation

Needs and priorities of the new EU Strategy on alcohol Supply-side approach: tackling the products themselves and their availability 1.) Regulating the availability of products (taxation, Minimum Unit Pricing MUP) 2.) Attractiveness (marketing & advertising) 3.) Appeal (labelling) 4.) Binding Regulation

Thank you for your attention! Zoltán Massay-Kosubek European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) Rue de Trèves 49 – 51, 2 nd floor BE Brussels +32 (0)