Alcohol Issues

The Inner Workings of the Public Health Alcohol Act In Ireland: From MUP To Changing the Alcohol Norm

Alcohol Issues Podcast - Episode 17

The Inner Workings of the Public Health Alcohol Act In Ireland: From MUP To Changing the Alcohol Norm

Movendi International's weekly in-depth conversation about latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Welcome to the Alcohol Issues Podcast and our 17^th episode. This week we focus on the Public Health Alcohol Act in Ireland and pay special attention to the recent news of the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing in Ireland. 

Discussing the Irish alcohol policy model with a special focus on the alcohol floor price policy

For the 17^th episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast host Maik Dünnbier welcomes Dr Sheila Gilheany to discuss the workings and issues around one of the world’s best alcohol acts.

Sheila is the Chief Executive of Alcohol Action Ireland. She is a tremendously impressive person and leader. Sheila holds a PhD in astrophysics. She has led a range of not-for-profit organisations in science, education, public engagement and social enterprise. And now she is at Alcohol Action Ireland that has been the key civil society advocate for support of the Public Health Alcohol Act that was passed into law in October 2018.

Alcohol Action Ireland was established in 2003 and is the national independent advocate for reducing alcohol harm in Ireland.

Alcohol Action Ireland campaigns for the burden of alcohol harm to be lifted from the individual, community and State. The organization has a strong track record in campaigning, advocacy, research and information provision.

In their conversation, Maik and Sheila take a deep dive into the alcohol policy model of Ireland. Sheila describes from a scientific and a human perspective why alcohol policy development was so important for Irish society.

They talk about the alcohol norm in Ireland and how the alcohol industry fuels cognitive dissonance, misconceptions and inertia, despite pervasive alcohol harm.

And yet the country adopted a comprehensive set of policies in the Public Health Alcohol Act. Sheila explains how that happened and she shares inspiring lessons learnt.

Maik and Sheila also talk in more detail about the different provisions of the alcohol law and how they work.

Just a few days ago, the government announced that the alcohol floor price would be introduced on January 1^st, 2022. So, Sheila and Maik look more closely at that issue and what the MUP will be in Ireland.

And they discuss what the future holds, both in short, medium and long term. Sheila shares insightful reflections and bold ideas for an integrated and comprehensive approach to protecting the people in Ireland from alcohol harm.

Resources for the conversation with Sheila

You can follow Dr Sheila Gilheany on Twitter, here.

You can follow Alcohol Action Ireland on Twitter, here.

You can read about Alcohol Action Ireland's work, here.

For further reading, about alcohol pricing policies in the WHO European region, get the resource here:

• New WHO Europe report “Making the WHO European Region SAFER. Developments in alcohol control policies, 2010–2019”
• Alcohol Policy Development: Three Country Success Stories

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch with maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

 

Commercial Determinants of Health and the WHO: Conflicts of Interest at the New WHO Foundation

Alcohol Issues Podcast - Episode 16

Commercial Determinants of Health and the WHO: Conflicts of Interest at the New WHO Foundation

Movendi International's weekly in-depth conversation about latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Welcome to the Alcohol Issues Podcast and our 16^th episode. This week we focus on commercial determinants of health and the World Health Organization, zooming in on conflicts of interest at the new WHO Foundation and shedding light on the broader context of the corporate objectives of health harmful industries such as Big Alcohol and Big Junk Food.

Discussing the global governance of health and corporate interference

For the 16^th episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast host Maik Dünnbier welcomes Professor Jeffrey Collin and Dr Nason Maani.

Jeff Collin is Professor of Global Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK. A political scientist by background, he previously worked at the London school of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Moving to Edinburgh in 2005, he established a suite of MSc programmes in health policy, joining the School of Social & Political Science in 2010 when the Global Public Health Unit was created within Social Policy.

Nason Maani was most recently a 2019-2020 Harkness Fellow at the Boston University School of Public Health and an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is focused on the structural and commercial determinants of health. Nason also serves as advisor to the Boston University/Rockefeller 3D commission on Data, Determinants and Decision-making.

They are two of the authors of a very timely, important and high profile scientific commentary published in February in BMJ Global Health.

Their commentary is called “The New WHO Foundation — Global Health Deserves Better” and has received much attention, especially among civil society and community groups dealing with the effects of health harmful industries interfering in public health policy making, particularly in the areas of Non-Communicable Diseases and their risk factors.

In the conversation, they discuss the topic of global health governance, the importance of WHO’s independence and the challenges posed by commercial determinants of health.

They analyze key conflict of interest issues that threaten the credibility and norm-setting function of the World Health Organization.

This topic is brought into sharp focus by the newly created WHO Foundation and how it decides to treat the alcohol industry and other health harmful corporate giants, such as Nestle.

With Jeff and Nason, Maik discusses to what extent the recent debacle of the European Super League in football can serve as analogy to help understand key concerns around the WHO Foundation.

Nason and Jeff share profound insights into how health harmful corporations work and leverage donor relations to achieve their key corporate objectives.

They also look at the bigger picture. In the era of sustainable development, where NCDs and their risk factors, such as alcohol, are among the biggest obstacles to not only good health but sustainable development overall, conflicts of interest inherent in many partnerships and donor relations with commercial determinants of health pose serious threats to achieving NCDs and SDGs targets. Nason and Jeff explain how and why.

Resources for the conversation with Evan

You can follow Prof Jeffrey Collin's research output, here.

You can read more about Jeff's work, here.

You can follow Dr Nason Maani on Twitter, here.

You can see Nason's research activity and read more about his work, here.

You can read more about the WHO Foundation, here. 

For further reading, Movendi International's Science Digest covering the topic of Commercial Determinants of Health and covering Conflict of Interest issues.

Press release from 2015: AB InBev's corporate social responsibility campaign to "influence social norms and individual behavior" with $1 billion.

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch with maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

 

Understanding Alcohol Taxation: Design, Potential and Window of Opportunity

Alcohol Issues Podcast - Episode 15

Understanding Alcohol Taxation: Design, Potential and Window of Opportunity

Movendi International's weekly in-depth conversation about latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Welcome to this in depth and far ranging conversation with Dr Evan Blecher of the World Health Organization focusing on pro-health taxes and specifically the design, potential and window of opportunity for better alcohol taxation.

Discussing alcohol taxation issues: affordability, framing, design and WHO's work to support countries

For the 15th episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast we welcome Evan Blecher from the World Health Organization.

Dr. Evan Blecher is an Economist in the Fiscal Policies for Health unit at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. His work focuses on tax policy and its influence on health behaviors, including tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. He is responsible for the development of new streams of work including alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverage taxes.

In the conversation, Evan and host Maik Dünnbier go deep into the weeds of health taxes, focusing more specifically on alcohol excises taxes. They discuss different terms for health taxes and what they reveal about the purpose and potential of health taxes.

Evan talks for instance about the term “sin taxes” and shares his analysis of the weaknesses of such a frame.

Host Maik Dünnbier also asks Evan about the evidence-base for health taxes in general and alcohol taxes in particular and how confident we can be in the knowledge today. Evan shares deep insights into how to design effective alcohol taxes and how to understand the primary purpose and objectives of alcohol taxation.

In the policy discussion of alcohol taxation often there seems to be a conflict in the minds of policy makers between raising revenue through alcohol taxes or reducing alcohol harm. Maik thus wanted to know from Evan if this conflict really exists and how we can best understand the potential of alcohol taxation.

Given the moment in time, where a public health crisis and an economic crisis are affecting people, communities and societies, WHO is working to support more countries to develop evidence-based alcohol taxes in order to make the most of the current window of opportunity to advance health taxes in general and alcohol taxes in particular to come out of the crisis healthier and stronger.

Resources for the conversation with Evan

You can follow Dr Evan Blecher on Twitter, here.

You can see Evan's research activity, here (Research gate) and here (Google Scholar)

You can read about the recently released WHO Tobacco Taxation manual, here.

Movendi International's Science Digest on alcohol taxation can be accessed here.

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch with maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

THE WHO, BIG ALCOHOL SELF-REGULATION AND THE NEW GLOBAL ALCOHOL ACTION PLAN

Alcohol Issues Podcast - Episode 14

THE WHO, BIG ALCOHOL SELF-REGULATION AND THE NEW GLOBAL ALCOHOL ACTION PLAN

Movendi International's weekly in-depth conversation about latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Welcome to this in depth and far ranging conversation about specific alcohol policy issues at the World Health Organization, alcohol industry regulation, World Trade Organization issues and the future of alcohol policy on the global level.

Questioning the alcohol industry's position of influence at the World Health Organization

For the 14th episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast host Maik Dünnbier welcomes Paula O’Brien, Tim Stockwell, and Robin Room.

Together with Kate Vallance they wrote an editorial in the latest Addiction Journal with the title: “WHO Should Not Support Alcohol Industry Co‐Regulation of Public Health Labelling”.

Paula O'Brien is an Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, specializing in public health law.

Professor Robin Room, of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR), is a sociologist working on social, cultural and epidemiological studies of alcohol, other drugs and gambling behaviour and problems.

Professor Tim Stockwell is the Director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria.

In their research editorial the scientists discuss, why it is unwise for the World Health Organization (WHO) to include the alcohol industry in co-regulation of alcohol labelling.

In this podcast conversation host Maik Dünnbier discusses with the three guests their editorial in detail to explore the reasons why the alcohol industry should not be invited to co-regulate alcohol labelling. Beyond that, they also talk about the scientific evidence on alcohol health warning labelling and alcohol industry self-regulation.

To expand the conversation beyond the specific WHO proposal to invite Big Alcohol to self-regulate alcohol labelling, they further talk about possibilities for improvements to the global governance of alcohol.

And finally, the conversation dives into an important point from the editorial that also has larger significance: what does it mean to remove the alcohol industry from their position of influence?

Resources for the conversation with Paula, Robin and Tim

Read the complete editorial here.

• Learn more about Associate Professor Paula O'Brien work at Melbourne Law School.
• Follow Robin Room's Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR) at La Trobe University on Twitter. 
• Follow Tim Stockwell's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) on Twitter.

Movendi International coverage of issues surrounding the on-going development of the alcohol action plan, exposing how the alcohol industry works to derail the alcohol policy improvement at the WHO, using both tobacco industry allies and strategies.

Read the analysis #1: "Exposed: The Strategies Big Alcohol Deploys to Interfere in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation"

Read the analysis #2: "Big Tobacco’s Strategic Ally Interferes in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation"

Listen to the first podcast: "Exposing the major strategies of the alcohol industry to derail the development of the WHO alcohol action plan"

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch with maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

Exposed: The Strategies Big Alcohol Deploys to Interfere in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation

Alcohol Issues - Episode 13

Exposed: The Strategies Big Alcohol Deploys to Interfere in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation

Movendi International's weekly conversation about the latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Revealing Big Alcohol Strategies to Undermine the Development of WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan

For this episode of the Alcohol Issues Podcast we welcome Shehara Cooray. And back on the podcast is also Kristina Sperkova.

Shehara is the manager of the Big Alcohol Exposed campaign – Movendi International’s initiative to expose and counter-act the unethical business practices of the alcohol industry.

Shehara documents and exposes the unethical tactics and practices of transnational alcohol giants, compiles company profiles, maps the alcohol industry and works with Movendi International members to expose the strategies of Big Alcohol.

Kristina is the President of Movendi International and is occasionally joining the Alcohol Issues Podcast for special occasions.

With host Maik Dünnbier, Shehara and Kristina discuss the submissions of alcohol industry front groups to WHO's consultation about the development of an action plan to better implement the WHO Global Alcohol Strategy.

Most recently, the World Health Organization published all submissions made to a web-based consultation from late last year about the development of a global alcohol action plan.

Shehara analyzed 16 submissions of major alcohol industry front groups from around the world.

We discuss the findings of the analysis and try to make sense of them, examine whether there are commonalities or even through-lines across the different front groups, from different countries and parts of the world. We also shed light on the use of science, or lack thereof, by the alcohol industry in their submissions.

And Kristina joins the conversation to help put the claims into context and discuss what Big Alcohol is actually up to.

Taking a detailed look at the suggestions of the alcohol industry for the development of a global action plan is revealing. The conversation helps identify the contradictions, shortcomings and the PR-spin the alcohol industry applies even to a technical consultation on a specific issue.

It's eye-opening conversation with Shehara and Kristina. This rapid analysis and short evaluation helps to expose why and how Big Alcohol engages with the World Health Organization.

Resources for the conversation with Shehara and Kristina

Read the first part of the analysis: "Big Tobacco’s Strategic Ally Interferes in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation"

Read the second part of the analysis: "Exposed: The Strategies Big Alcohol Deploys to Interfere in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation"

Follow Kristina on Twitter.

Read Shehara's opinion pieces on our global voices portal.

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch with maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

 

Hearing the Silent Voices: Children from families with alcohol problems in Ireland

Alcohol Issues - Episode 12

Hearing the Silent Voices: Children from families with alcohol problems - Working for change in Ireland

Movendi International's weekly conversation about the latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Special edition - CoA Week 2021

For this special edition of the Alcohol Issues podcast we welcome Dr Sheila Gilheany for an in-depth conversation about the situation of children living in families with alcohol problems, the size of the problem and concrete solutions.

Sheila is the Chief Executive of Alcohol Action Ireland. 

CoA Week 2021 is the international awareness week to bring attention to the reality of children growing up in families with alcohol problems.

With host Maik Dünnbier Sheila discusses Alcohol Action Ireland’s work to raise awareness and improve the conditions of children growing up in families with alcohol problems. They are running the much needed initiative Silent Voices that works to end the silence around the impact of family alcohol problems on children.

Sheila shares deep insights into the extent of the problem in Ireland and we talk about what life is like for vulnerable children. I learn more about the Silent Voices initiative, how it works and what they’ve been doing in the last two years since it was started by three founding voices.

While the situation of children from families with alcohol problems is dire and yet there remains silence around the topic, there is a set of big and small solutions. Sheila talks with me about those and shares her vision of how the rights of vulnerable children can be much better protected through concrete alcohol policy and other interventions.

Resources for the conversation with Sheila

Follow Sheila on Twitter.

Follow Alcohol Action Ireland on Twitter.

1. Read more about Alcohol Action Ireland's important work, here.
2. Read more about the SILENT VOICES campaign, here.

And follow the Silent Voices initiative on Twitter.

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch at: maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

Changing the alcohol norm: The potential of digital communities and alcohol-free challenges

Alcohol Issues - Episode 11

Changing the alcohol norm: The potential of digital communities and alcohol-free challenges 

Movendi International's weekly in-depth conversation about latest alcohol issues.

Special edition - Dry January & February and more

As Dry February is in full swing in several countries, many people are continuing going alcohol-free after Dry January and there is this huge interest digital sober communities, we are bringing you a conversation with and about Hello Sunday Morning and Dry January.

There is the cultural phenomenon of Dry January, increasingly popular around the world. There is a campaign to spend February alcohol-free. There are initiatives for Sober Spring. Dry July and Sober October have also been established and enjoy increasing popularity. And there are campaign supporting people to spend the holidays alcohol-free.

Hello Sunday Morning and their Daybreaker App as well as Dry January and the Try Dry app are outstanding examples of the success and momentum to use digital technologies in support of people who want to reduce and quit their alcohol use and achieve other health and life goals in doing so.

Last October, to celebrate World Alcohol-Free Day on October 3^rd and to support Sober October, we arranged an Sober Inspiration Talk with Andy Moore, CEO of Hello Sunday Morning, and Richard Piper, Chief Executive of Alcohol Change UK, the charity running Dry January. It was such an inspiring and insightful conversation that we want to bring some highlights back.

In this special edition, the Alcohol Issues Podcast host Maik Dünnbier is joined by Kristina Sperkova, the President of Movendi International and the moderator of the Sober Inspiration Talk with Andy and Richard. Kristina and Maik picked some highlights from the original conversation that they want to share. And they discuss some topics that Richard and Andy raise in more detail and depth.

Resources for the conversation with Andy and Richard

All about Alcohol Change  UK and Richard:

Follow Richard on Twitter.

Follow Alcohol Change UK on Twitter.

1. Read more about Alcohol Change UK's important work, here.
2. Read more about DRY JANUARY, here.

And follow Dry January on Twitter.

Here's more about Hello Sunday Morning and Andy:

• Follow Hello Sunday Morning on Twitter, here.
• The Hello Sunday Morning website.
• Andy's blog post about changing the role alcohol plays in his life.
• The Daybreak app, can be downloaded here.

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch at: maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

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

New Report: Lethal Interaction between Alcohol and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Alcohol Issues - Episode 10

New Report: The Lethal Interaction between Alcohol and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Movendi International's weekly conversation about the latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

Special edition

For this special edition of the Alcohol Issues podcast we welcome Frida Dangardt and Tim Stockwell for an in-depth conversation about alcohol issues related to COVID-19.

Frida Dangardt is an Associate Professor in Clinical Physiology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg and doctor at the Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, which is part of Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg.

Tim Stockwell is the Director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria.

With host Maik Dünnbier they discuss key findings and unique insights into a brand new and ground-breaking report called “Alcohol and the coronavirus pandemic: individual, societal, and policy perspectives”. Frida and Tim are part of a team of world-renowned researchers in the field of alcohol harm and policy, led by Harold Holder. This group has written influential research reports in the series “Alcohol and Society” every year since 2013.

This year’s report is a bit different and a bit more special. It deals with a subject that we are right now all living in: the coronavirus pandemic. And it’s the first systematic assessment of individual, societal and policy issues related to alcohol and COVID-19.

Resources for the conversation with Frida and Tim

Follow Frida on Twitter.

Follow Tim's institute on Twitter: CISUR.

1. The media release about the report can be found here...

2. The report can be downloaded as PDF here...

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch at: maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

 

Alcohol Issues - Understanding alcohol harm as feminist issue

Alcohol Issues - Episode 9

Understanding alcohol harm as feminist issue

Movendi International's 9th episode of the Alcohol Issues podcast.

This is a special edition.

For Human Rights Day marking the end of another 16 days of activism period to raise awareness about and campaign for ending violence against women, we skip the weekly alcohol issues highlights to completely focus on the in-depth conversation.

Special guest

For this special edition of the Alcohol Issues podcast we welcome Kristina Sperkova, the President of Movendi International. Kristina is a trained psychologist who specialized in social psychology and discourse analysis, writing about comparative analysis of gender norms and stereotypes in Sweden and Slovakia.

With this background, Kristina has been leading Movendi International’s work for advancing gender equality and female empowerment for the last 14 years.

In-depth conversation

This is deep-dive into alcohol issues through a gender and Women’s Rights lens. With Kristina we discuss alcohol ‘s role in the epidemic of violence against women. 

It’s a broad topic that does not receive the attention it deserves. Kristina shares her analysis of how and why the Women’s Rights movement is failing in this regard.

We go into detail about how the alcohol norm and gender norms overlap and the lessons that can be drawn from discussing the overlaps. We talk about the role of alcohol marketing in fueling violence and fomenting the oppression of women. And we discuss the solutions that are available to help advance women’s rights through addressing alcohol.

Kristina shares profound insights that expose the alcohol industry; as a feminist herself she challenges the feminist movement and outlines a bold and comprehensive approach to eliminating violence against women, driven by the communities most affected.

Resources for the conversation with Kristina

Follow Kristina on Twitter.

1. Kristina's blog corner
   Read Kristina's opinion pieces here...

2. Comprehensive coverage of alcohol issues and Women's Rights
   Read more here...

3. Alcohol as obstacle to development - alcohol's adverse effects on the SDGs (including SDG 5)
   Read more here...

4. Overview of facts: alcohol and breast cancer
   Read more here...

5. Overview of facts: alcohol and violence against women
   Read more here...

Feedback

For feedback, questions and suggestions of future topics, please get in touch at: info@movendi.ngo 

 

Alcohol issues - Alcohol consumption and harm in the Americas region.

Alcohol Issues - Episode 8

Alcohol consumption and harm in the Americas region

Movendi International's weekly conversation about the latest alcohol issues in policy and science and new alcohol industry revelations.

In-depth conversation

We begin the podcast with an in-depth conversation with an inspiring guest and global leader for alcohol policy development and implementation Maristela Monteiro, the Senior Advisor on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, in the Non Communicable Diseases and Mental Health  department of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA.

Weekly alcohol issues highlights

In policy news, we talk about the role of ultra-cheap alcohol in the UK’s heavy alcohol burden; and we explore similar stories from different countries about the need to strengthen services for people with alcohol problems during the pandemic.

Regarding the latest science digest, we talk about a new study that examined the impact of alcohol policy development in former soviet union countries over the last 30 years.

And in the Big Alcohol Watch we discuss corporate capture of the government in the Northern Territory in Australia that has moved to allow an alcohol mega-store in the middle of alcohol-free Aboriginal communities.