Alcohol industry called upon to take more effective action!

The EU Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF) will meet this Thursday and Friday under the auspices of the new Director General, Ms. Paola Testori Coggi. These meetings will mark the beginning of a new era in the Forum.

There have been several positive outcomes of the Forum, in terms of discussions and reports produced. Furthermore, it has increased action and coordination among NGOs.

However, the NGOs in the Forum feel that it could achieve a lot more if the economic operators have not been continously trying to divert attention into unproductive areas.

Most of the commitments made by the economic operators to the Forum are in the areas of education and information. Alcohol industry educational programs and information campaigns are often misguiding and use ambiguous terminology.

They are mainly a disguised advertising and simply serve to advance the industry's public relations interests.

Marian Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare, a European-wide advocacy group which campaigns to reduce alcohol-related harms, said:

‘We would like to call on the economic operators to commit to actions that are meaningful and effective. For example, inform consumers about what is in their drinks (ingredients, kilocalories etc); disclose their expenditure on marketing activities; refer in their advertisements to the actual characteristics of their products instead of suggesting that the portrayed lifestyle can be attained by drinking alcohol, and stop selling to minors. From a more practical point of view, they could reduce harm by introducing plastic glassware at high risk venues'

Click here to read the letter.