Building Capacity Project
Alcohol Policy Cost-effectiveness Briefing Notes
for 22 European Countries
Introduction
International evidence shows that policies that regulate the environment in which alcohol is marketed (particularly its price and availability) are effective in reducing alcohol-related harm. Restrictions on commercial marketing of alcohol, enforced legislative measures to reduce drinking and driving and individuallydirected interventions to already at-risk drinkers are also effective. By contrast, school-based education programmes are found not to reduce alcohol-related harm, although public information and education type programmes have a role in providing information, and in increasing attention and acceptance of alcohol on the political and public agendas.
These briefing notes describe which measures or strategies represent best use of society’s resources - and by how much they can reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol use – to inform alcohol policy, planning and evaluation.
The estimates are made for 22 EU Member states. Due to incomplete data, it has not been possible to make estimates for Cyrpus, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta and Romania.
Individual country notes available in pdf format below:
| Austria | |
| Belgium | |
| Bulgaria | |
| Czech Republic | |
| Denmark | |
| Estonia | |
| Finland | |
| France | |
| Germany | |
| Hungary | |
| Ireland | |
| Italy | |
| Latvia | |
| Lithuania | |
| Netherlands | |
| Poland | |
| Portugal | |
| Slovakia | |
| Slovenia | |
| Spain | |
| Sweden | |
| United Kingdom |
Acknowledgement
The briefing notes were prepared by:
Dan Chisholm PhD, Department of Health System Financing, World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland.
Jürgen Rehm, Ph.D., Head, Epidemiological Research Unit, Technische Universität Dresden, Klinische Psychologie & Psychotherapie, Senior Scientist and Co-Head, Section Public Health and Regulatory Policies, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ulrich Frick, PhD, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Feldkirchen, Austria and
Peter Anderson, MD, PhD, Independent consultant in public health, England.
The notes were prepared as part of the Building Capacity project managed by the Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia, co-financed by the European Commission (http://www.ias.org.uk/buildingcapacity/index.html). The information contained in the note does not necessarily reflect the opinion or the position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for any use that might be made of the information in the notes.
The notes were published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, London (http://www.ias.org.uk/).
Date: September 2009
For further information, please contact:
Peter Anderson - email: peteranderson.mail@gmail.com