Home > IMO and ICGP both call for action on alcohol abuse.

[Irish Medical Times] , Mudiwa, Lloyd IMO and ICGP both call for action on alcohol abuse. (05 Dec 2012)

External website: http://www.imt.ie/news/latest-news/2012/12/imo-and...

The ICGP and IMO have both called for action to curb the abuse of alcohol in Ireland and its associated problems.

Utilising the unique position of GPs to highlight the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, the College last week called for the implementation of the Steering Group Report on a National Substance Misuse Strategy (2012), some eight months after its publication.

The ICGP came out in full support of Government and public health policies to curb excessive alcohol consumption through taxation, advertising restrictions, accessibility of alcohol, responsible sale of alcohol and enforcement of licensing laws, in its position paper ‘Prevention of Alcohol-Related Problems in Ireland’.

At the weekend, a leading public health specialist also stated that the failure of successive governments to develop a national alcohol policy has had a “devastating” impact on society in general and family life in particular.

Giving the annual IMO Doolin Lecture in the RCSI, Dr Declan Bedford said Ireland had become a nation of binge-drinkers with a dangerous ambivalence towards alcohol and the damage it inflicted across the community. “It’s an indication of Ireland’s ambivalent attitude to alcohol that there are more places where you can buy drink in Ireland than there are shops where you can buy fruit, vegetables or milk,” he commented

 

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