Scotland must tackle alcohol ‘epidemic’

A tobacco control expert is urging Scotland to spearhead the global “war” on an “industrial epidemic” of alcohol issues, similar to the efforts made to reduce smoking.

An international tobacco control expert has called for Scotland to lead the fight against alcohol issues

Professor Gerard Hastings, founder of the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at Stirling University, is calling for governments and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to take action as commercial interests related to alcohol and tobacco are overriding health issues.

Hastings believes Scotland should take a leading role in encouraging WHO to introduce a structure to outline how countries can take action to address alcohol problems through measures around advertising, packaging and the way it is sold.

He will make a plea at an international summit taking place in Edinburgh this week from 7-9 October, which will explore the most effective ways of tackling alcohol related harm.

“With tobacco, public health has eventually got its head round it and said if you are really going to tackle tobacco, you have to do something about the business side of this,” said Hastings, as reported by Herald Scotland. “Initially that focused in on advertising, as that is a very visible part of what they are doing.

“But it is actually having to look at the whole marketing environment – which is not just the advertising but the product development, the pricing strategies, the distribution, the point of sale, the packaging and also indeed all the stuff that big business does to carry favour with government as well as customers.

“To deal with that, the route that was taken was to produce the (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.”

He added a similar legislation should be put in place for alcohol, not as a means to penalise businesses but to recognise that companies put shareholders before “wider senses of value”.