Home > Alcohol industry safe drinking messages 'ineffective'.

[BBC News Online] Alcohol industry safe drinking messages 'ineffective'. (13 Oct 2011)

External website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-wales-15263019

Responsible drinking campaigns by the alcohol industry have little effect on cutting consumption, a report claims.

Alcohol Concern Cymru [Wales} research claims industry health messages are ambiguous and suggest alcohol only causes problems in the wrong hands rather than being "dangerous" in its own right.

Raising prices and reducing availability were most likely to cut drinking rates they said.

The industry said the study was aimed at getting price rises.

The report for Alcohol Concern Cymru, Achieving positive change in the drinking culture of Wales, reviewed evidence from around the world on health messages coming from industry-supported campaigns.

The authors found such campaigns lacked clarity over safe drinking behaviour, which typically showed alcohol as a neutral product with some irresponsible users, whereas the evidence they studied suggested alcohol was intrinsically dangerous and needed careful regulation.

 

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