Oral Cancer News

Source: news.scotsman.com
Author: Lyndsay Moss

Doctors have called for a total ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship of sport and music events to tackle the UK’s serious drink problems. The British Medical Association (BMA) yesterday outlined a measures to “tackle the soaring cost of alcohol-related harm”. Doctors said sponsorship of sporting and music events such as T in the Park must end because of the influence such marketing has on young people, in particular. They also called for an end to promotions such as two-for-one deals and ladies’ free entry nights at clubs.

The calls sparked anger from alcohol industry chiefs, who said controls were already in place and further restrictions would have a negative impact on jobs and might even lead to increased consumption. But health campaigners backed the recommendations in a report compiled by Stirling University.

The BMA also renewed its calls for a minimum price to be set per unit of alcohol – a move being pursued in Scotland – and for alcohol to be taxed at a higher rate than inflation.

Drink firms’ sponsorship of sport and music events has become widespread in recent years. The BMA highlighted deals such as Carling, which sponsors both the Celtic and Rangers football clubs, and Johnnie Walker whisky, which is a sponsor of the Formula One McLaren Team. The Scottish music festival T in the Park is sponsored by Tennent’s lager.

The BMA study, Under The Influence, said alcohol consumption in the UK had increased rapidly in recent years. It blamed advertising and heavy discounting and 24-hour licensing laws. The report states: “The population is drinking in increasingly harmful ways and the result is a plethora of avoidable medical, psychological and social harm, damaged lives and early deaths.”

It said controls on promotion were “inadequate” as they were based on voluntary agreements with the industry and focused on content, rather than the amount of alcohol advertising.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the BMA, said the body was not “anti- alcohol” but doctors were right to focus on patients’ health.

“Over the centuries, alcohol has become established as the country’s favourite drug,” she said. ” “Young people are drinking more because the whole population is drinking more and our society is awash with pro-alcohol messaging and marketing.”

One of the report’s authors Gerard Hastings, professor of social marketing at Stirling University, said: “Given the industry spends £800 million a year in promoting alcohol in the UK, it is no surprise that we see it everywhere. Given that adolescents often dislike the taste of alcohol, new products like alcopops and toffee vodka are developed.

“All these promotional activities serve to normalise alcohol as an essential part of everyday life. It is no surprise that young people are drawn to alcohol.”

Advertising Association chief operating officer Rae Burdon said: “The current rules regulating alcohol advertising in the UK provide a strictly-enforced framework for companies to communicate commercial messages responsibly in a mature and competitive alcoholic beverage market.”

Wine and Spirit Trade Association chief executive Jeremy Beadles said that, in the face of the worst recession since the 1930s, the BMA was calling for measures that would “hit the pockets of millions of consumers and threaten the livelihoods of thousands of people in the media, advertising, television, not to mention the drinks industry”.

David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, which represents companies that produce most of the alcohol sold in the UK and regulates marketing, said doctors were dismissing the existing strict controls.

He added: “The BMA is ignoring all the evidence that advertising causes brand-switching, not harmful drinking. The University of Sheffield found (a ban] would create fiercer price competition, which could actually increase overall consumption.”

The Scottish Government has brought forward proposals for a minimum price per unit of alcohol. Yesterday public health minister Shona Robison said: “We have worked with the industry to draw up Scottish sponsorship guidelines, which state that alcohol promoters must ensure their brands are not used to sponsor teams, celebrities or events with particular appeal to under-18s.”

It could be some time before the BMA’s calls for an advertising ban have a notable impact. The association started campaigning for a ban on smoking in public places in 1981 – with the first UK legislation on this taking place in Scotland in 2006.

The advertising industry pointed out that the marketing of alcohol was already subject to restrictions.

Alcohol Facts:
• UK alcohol industry spends approximately £800 million each year on advertising.
• It is related to more than 60 medical conditions, costs the NHS millions of pounds every year.
• £2.5 billion is spent annually by Scotland’s public services dealing with alcohol-related problems.
• The cost to the NHS for treating drink-related injury and illness has been estimated to be anything up to £3bn a year in the UK.
• Household spending on alcohol increased by 81 per cent between 1992-2006.
• Alcohol was 69.4 per cent more affordable in 2007 than it was in 1980.
• Cancer research UK has published figures showing an increase of 51 per cent in oral cancer rates in the last 20 years, which they attribute to increased alcohol consumption.
• The Competition Commission have found that five leading grocery retailers sold £38.6 million worth of alcohol at below-cost during the 2006 World Cup.
• The average estimated strength of table wine increased from 11.40 per cent in 1994/95 to 11.85 per cent in 2003-04
• The average estimated strength of beer increased from 4.06 per cent in 1994-95 to 4.19 per cent in 2003-04.
• Absenteeism from work – totally 17 million working days are lost each year – costing the economy about £1.5bn annually.

French Rules Irk Vintners
Despite being the world’s largest consumer of wine, France has some of the toughest regulations governing alcohol advertising outside the Middle East.

Since 1991, advertising of alcoholic drinks has been outlawed everywhere except in the press, on billboard posters and on the radio after 10pm. Even then, adverts must contain the a warning that alcohol is harmful and should be consumed in moderation.

The law, known as the Loi Evin after a former health minister, also bans “direct or indirect” advertising on television. This means posters around sports stadiums, or logos on racing cars or footballers’ shirts – or any other televised event where references to alcohol could be picked up on TV cameras – are also illegal in France.

The law is so strictly enforced that rugby’s Heineken Cup is simply called the European Rugby Cup in France, and many of the world’s major alcohol brands block French users from their websites for fear of prosecution.

But while government insists the tight controls on advertising are crucial to public health, the drinks industry claims it is being “demonised”.

CIVC champagne producers’ body spokesman Daniel Lorson said recently: “Today in France, the sight of a bottle of wine has become as offensive as a picture of war or pornography.”