Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity (second edition): Implications for national and local policy initiatives

This presentation summarizes the contents of Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity (second edition). The first part describes why alcohol is not an ordinary commodity, and reviews epidemiological data that establish alcohol as a major contributor to the global burden of disease, disability and death in high, middle and low income countries. An important development in this context is the extent to which international beer and spirits production has recently been consolidated by a small number of global corporations that are expanding their operations in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the second part of the presentation, the scientific evidence for strategies and interventions that can prevent or minimize alcohol-related harm is critically reviewed in seven key areas: pricing and taxation, regulating the physical availability of alcohol, modifying the drinking context, drink-driving countermeasures, restrictions on marketing, education and persuasion strategies, and treatment and early intervention services. Overall, the strongest, most cost-effective strategies include taxation that increases prices, restrictions on the physical availability of alcohol, drink-driving countermeasures, brief interventions with at risk drinkers, and treatment of drinkers with alcohol dependence.