DSICA
Column – Our Hotel – May 2007
Alcohol Industry responds to WHO Resolution
By Gordon Broderick
In May 2005 the World Health Organisation (WHO)
adopted a resolution on ‘Public health problems caused by harmful use of
alcohol’. This is the first WHO resolution specifically on alcohol for
22 years, and is significant because alcohol is being placed firmly on WHO’s
agenda. Since then there have been calls by some health advocates for an ‘international
public health treaty’ on alcohol, which would be modelled on the highly
prescriptive WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This would clearly
be a concern for our industry. So what is the industry doing?
To provide a clear
and united voice to WHO, international alcohol producers have formed the Global
Alcohol Producers (GAP) Group. GAP Group is a voluntary industry coalition with
the major companies of beer, wine and spirits co-operating internationally to
support public policy development to help alcohol misuse.
Members of GAP Group
include Anheuser-Busch, Asahi, Bacardi-Martini, Beam Global Spirits and Wine,
Brown-Forman, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Foster’s, Heineken, InBev,
Kirin, Pernod-Ricard, SABMiller, Molson Coors, Sapporo, Scottish & Newcastle
and Suntory.
GAP Group has also set up a trade association liaison group in order
to ensure they can contribute the value of their experience and expertise in
tackling alcohol misuse at a regional level. This led to a Trade Association
Conference, which GAP Group hosted in Miami to share information and exchange
views. In addition, GAP Group has attended two open stakeholder forums and put
forward industry’s views on relevant subjects identified by WHO. This included
information on global consumption patterns and perspectives on effective harm
reduction policies. GAP Group made it clear to WHO that the industry is seriously
committed to helping reduce alcohol misuse.
Potentially, the findings of a WHO
sponsored study into alcohol related harm and the emerging thinking of the WHO
Secretariat will be presented to next month’s World Health Assembly in
Geneva (14 to 24 May). This is an important milestone in the WHO resolution process
and will influence the future timetable of the resolution. Whatever WHO decides
it will reasonably take 2-5 years for it to be implemented.
There is probably
no single model or formula applicable to every country and every problem involving
misuse of alcohol. But GAP Group believes that culturally appropriate evidence-based
programmes that take into account drinking patterns, targeted interventions and
public-private partnerships are the most effective solutions in curbing alcohol
misuse. On the other hand, blunt population-based measures, such as the Nordic
model, that are designed to reduce a population’s overall consumption,
regardless of whether the consumption is moderate and responsible, have proved
wholly ineffective. This is because they don’t get to the root problem
of why people are abusing alcohol. Population-based measures can also have serious
unintended consequences, such as shifting consumption to unhealthy, low-quality
substitutes, increasing crime and smuggling (which reduces tax revenues) and
impeding consumer choice.
WHO resolutions and studies presented in Geneva may
seem to have little bearing on the day to day operations of the Australian alcohol
market. However, the potential impact of one-sided policy development can be
significant. First, restrictive ‘command and control’ policies may
be held up as ‘international best practice’ and some may argue for
such restrictions in Australia. Second, and related to the first point, such
policies would entrench old fashioned regulatory measures as the norm across
the globe. Finally, adopting such policies by our trading partners could impinge
upon Australian exports.
If you want to talk to the Australian GAP Group representatives,
please call Mr Ron Ainsbury (Diageo Australia) on phone (02) 9931 9802 or Ms
Natalie Toohey (Foster’s Group) on phone (03) 9633 2056.
