How Big Alcohol Derails Alcohol Prevention Efforts in the Netherlands

How Big Alcohol Derails Alcohol Prevention Efforts in the Netherlands

The Alcohol Issues Podcast – Season 2 Episode 06

This episode is a brand new and real time case study of how the alcohol industry hijacks and derails alcohol prevention efforts.

People and communities in the Netherlands are burdened by heavy alcohol harm. And in 2018 the government made a commitment to better prevent and reduce that harm.

Unfortunately, though, this is all unravelling now.

The Pitfalls of Big Alcohol Being at the Policy Table

To understand the alcohol policy debate in the Netherlands, host Maik Dünnbier talks with Wim van Dalen of STAP. Wim tells the story of an alcohol prevention effort that got totally hijacked and derailed by the alcohol industry.

It started with ambitious targets to better protect people from alcohol harm but now the country faces the real possibility that alcohol will become even more easily and widely available.

The conversation between Maik and Wim is very timely because there are important alcohol policy development processes going on at national, European, and global levels where the alcohol industry is also interfering and trying to get a seat at the table.

But the case of the alcohol roundtables in the Netherlands illustrates clearly what the pitfalls are.

Read full story: "The Pitfalls of Big Alcohol Being at the Policy Table: Dutch Alcohol Industry Derails Efforts to Prevent, Reduce Alcohol Harm"

The guest

Wim van Dalen is a sociologist. He graduated the University of Wageningen in 1976. He is one of the first university-trained health educators in the Netherlands. Wim worked for 4 years as a national policy officer at the former Federation of Alcohol en Drugs Institutions and then worked for more than 15 years as a project developer and later as manager in a regional addiction institution.

From 1986 he was a member of the advisory committee of the national alcohol campaign ‘Drink destroys more than you would like’ of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. From 1996 to 2002 he led this campaign as an employee of the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.

In 2002 he became director of STAP. He is also chairman of EUCAM, a European network of organizations that focus on monitoring alcohol marketing.

• Follow Wim van Dalen on Twitter: @WimvanDalen
• Follow STAP on Twitter: @STAP_Nederland
  • Find out more about STAP’s work.
• Follow EUCAM on Twitter: @EUCAM1
  • Find out more about EUCAM’s work.

S2 E6 Topic

Wim van Dalen is one of the most renowned and accomplished public health alcohol policy champions in the Netherlands and Europe. In the conversation he will touch upon some of the policy improvements he was part of bringing about in the Netherlands over the years. 

And in this capacity, Wim is at the center of the current alcohol policy debate. Through talking with him, we get a seat in the front row to better see and understand the alcohol harm and policy solutions needed in the Netherlands and how the alcohol industry lobbies to derail and obstruct efforts to develop evidence-based public health action on alcohol harm.

Resources for the episode 

In recent years, some alcohol policy improvements have been decided in the Netherlands, while more ambitious action is lacking.

• Read full story: "Netherlands: Alcohol Policy Best Buys Save Healthcare Costs"
• Read the full story: "Netherlands: New Alcohol Law Eliminates Obscene Alcohol Price Promotions"
• Read the full story: "Netherlands: New Report Outlines Possibilities For Mandatory Alcohol Labeling"
• Read the full story: "Dutch Government Investigation: MUPs Reduces Alcohol Harm"
• Read the full story: "Acute Alcohol Intoxication in Dutch Adolescents Before, During, and After the First COVID-19 Lockdown"
• Read the full story: "Netherlands: Brewers Incentivize Heavy Student Alcohol Use"
• Read the full story: "Netherlands: Widespread Misconceptions about Alcohol"

Feedback

Your feedback, questions, and suggestions for future topics and guests is most welcome. Please get in touch at: maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

You are most welcome to follow Movendi International and Maik Dünnbier on Twitter, too.