9 October, Berlin. EASA’s President Jean-Pierre Teyssier spoke at the conference entitled "Alcohol advertising - impact and (self)control" on 25 September, which was organised by the German Drug Commissioner Sabine Bätzing.

The summary report of the third meeting of the Task Force on Youth-Specific aspects of Alcohol (18 September) is now available on the Public Health section of the DG SANCO website.

Geneva, 2 October. Each year, more than two million people die from alcohol-related causes which is why World Health Organization (WHO) was asked by its Member States in May at the World Health Assembly to develop a global strategy to combat the harmful use of alcohol. All parties with an interest in reducing the harmful use of alcohol are now invited to share their views in a public hearing being organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). The one month web-based hearing will run between 3 and 31 October.

The brewers have learned from the spirits industry and have started experimenting with different flavours and admixtures of different non-alcoholic beverages. A beer mixed with energy drink is already available in Germany (check the CAB website: http://www.cab-drink.com/). The promotion of such drinks definitely targets young people. The problem from the legislative point of view is – especially in Germany – that this drink is based on beer. This makes it cheap (low tax) and the legal purchase age for beer is 16 years (in Germany). Brewers were certainly happy after the introduction of the special tax on spirit based Alcopops.

These developments should be observed closely.

A debate hosted by Lambert Van Nistelrooij MEP and Claude Moraes MEP, Co-Presidents of the Intergroup on Ageing, in cooperation with AGE and EPHA on the 14th of October 2008 from 08:45-12:00 in Room A5E-2 at the European Parlieament, Brussels.

For PDF of Program click here..

The roundtable "High Quality Healthcare in Europe," organized jointly by the Council of European Dentists (CED) and the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) on the 10th of September in Brussels, provided one of the first opportunities for stakeholders to discuss the Commission’s recent proposal for a Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare. The event under the patronage of Othmar Karas, MEP, brought together Commission officials and MEPs to exchange views with the main organisations of European health professionals and patients on the proposed Directive, as well as on the wider institutional and political framework for cross-border healthcare in Europe.

VAD and ECAT network are hosting this conference in line with their mission to enhance the effectiveness of local alcohol prevention campaigns. By establishing guidelines for local campaigns, assessing varying local situations to develop specific actions and prevention strategies and evaluating the reach and viability of those local campaigns, the ECAT project combines principle and practice in the hopes of reducing the threat of alcohol to local communities throughout Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Belgium.

The conference will take place in Flemish Parliament, Leuvenseweg 86, 1000 Brussels, Belgium on Friday, 24 October 2008, beginning at 9:30 am. It is open to everyone and the admission fee is 35 euro. Every participant will receive a copy of the ECAT manual for further elucidation of the project’s scheme.

On the 8th of September, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed suit against MillerCoors Brewing Company over its alcoholic energy drink, Sparks. This bold action is an important new step in the effort to protect America's youth from these dangerous and deceptive products.

The photos from the Eurocare evening reception marking International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) day, held in the European Parliament on the 9th of September 2008, are now available.

Drinking alcohol in pregnancy remains a significant public health issue in Europe. A substantial number of women across the EU, continue to drink during pregnancy–ranging from 25% in Spain to 35%-50% in the Netherlands and even higher rates in the UK or Ireland.

Prenatal exposure to alcohol is a leading preventable cause of birth defects an developmental disorders, and the only one which is 100% preventable. Unfortunately, many women are not aware that, throughout the pregnancy, even at low levels of exposure, alcohol interferes with the normal development and can seriously damage the unborn child.