There is a case study on preventing early deaths from alcohol us in the Russian Federation on page 44 and global alcohol use statistics on page 62 (pictured). The accuracy and comparability of alcohol statistics is often open to question.
Story
UK Election 2017: Manifesto pledges on alcohol
Conservatives
“We will widen the role of police and crime commissioners to help them cut crime for their local communities. We will ensure that commissioners sit on local health and wellbeing boards, enabling better co-ordination of crime prevention with local drug and alcohol and mental health services. … So we will create a national community sentencing framework that punishes offenders and focuses on the measures that have a better chance of turning people around and preventing crime, such as curfews and orders that tackle drug and alcohol abuse. … We will improve the co-ordination of mental health services with other local services, including police forces and drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.” Last month a Conservative health minister ordered the development of a health strategy for the children of alcohol dependents.”
Labour
“We will implement a strategy for the children of alcoholics based on recommendations drawn up by independent experts,” (p68), in line with the consensus at a cross-party debate on the issue in February which led a Conservative health minister to order a strategy to be drawn up last month, as mentioned above.
LibDems
“We need to do more to promote healthy eating and exercise, making people aware of the dangers of smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol and other drugs, and helping to improve mental health and wellbeing. We will: … Introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol, subject to the final outcome of the legal challenge in Scotland.”
Plaid Cymru
The manifesto does not mention of alcohol or drugs.
Scottish National Party (SNP)
“Given the Scotch Whisky industry is a key sector of Scotland’s economy, SNP MPs will continue to advocate a review of alcohol taxation to better reflect alcohol content, while supporting health benefits through minimum unit pricing.”
Sources: http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/Images/manifesto-2017/Labour%20Manifesto%202017.pdf
http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/5909d4366ad575794c000000/attachments/original/1495020157/Manifesto-Final.pdf?1495020157 (LibDems)
https://www.scribd.com/document/348387609/Plaid-Cymru-Defending-Wales-2017-Action-Plan
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/manifesto2017/Manifesto2017.pdf (Conservatives)
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/thesnp/pages/9544/attachments/original/1496139998/Manifesto_2017.pdf?1496139998 ■
Mental Health Awareness Week ’17, #MHAW17
[statistics] Drinking in England down 9% in a decade, heavy drinking down 20% | NHS
- 57 per cent of adults reported drinking alcohol in the previous week in 2016 which is a fall from 64 per cent in 2006. This equates to 25.3 million adults in England.
- Those who drank more than 8/6 units on their heaviest day in the last week fell from 19 per cent to 15 per cent.
Source: content.digital.nhs.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=25009
Note: A report was also released by the Office of National Statistics on the drinking habits of the UK as a whole. ■
[research, comment] Why we’re heading down the wrong path in understanding the human brain | WE Forum
Some researchers now believe the brain and its diseases in general can only be understood as an interplay between tremendous numbers of neurons distributed across the central nervous system.
Source: www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/our-understanding-of-the-human-brain-could-be-all-wrong/
Note: It seems possible that both modular and all-encompassing approaches might be helpful to some degree. ■
[research, comment] Responsibility without blame for addiction | Neuroethics
I offer a “responsibility without blame” framework that derives from reflection on forms of clinical practice that support change and recovery in patients who cause harm to themselves and others. This framework can be used to interrogate our own attitudes and responses, so that we can better see how to acknowledge the truth about choice and agency in addiction, while avoiding stigma and blame, and instead maintaining care and compassion alongside a commitment to working for social justice and good—Hanna Pickard, Reader in Philosophy, Birmingham University, UK
Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12152-016-9295-2
Note: This suggestion tallies closely with the compromise reached in Alcohol Companion. As is pointed out in this paper, it is important for our well-being to acknowledge that we continue to make choices after exposure to alcohol. But it is also important to acknowledge that alcohol exposure means, for a variety of reasons, our subsequent choices often become unreliable, often being heavily biased in favour of consuming more alcohol. Choices made when we are being coerced, disabled, bribed or deceived cannot be given the same treatment as ones we make without interference. In such circumstances it can be helpful to ignore the question of whether a choice is morally right or wrong, because there can be no reliable answer when our judgment is impaired. And moral answers rarely provide a solution for the person being judged. Luckily, however, it is often both possible and helpful to look at the factors which led to a choice and ask whether it was a good or bad one purely in terms of our happiness and well-being. ■