Developing ‘Health First’: The UK’s independent alcohol strategy
Professor Linda Bauld (UKCTCS)
13.45, Wednesday 10 July. Millennium Lounge, level 5
The harm caused by alcohol is a problem for the whole of UK society, with millions of individuals suffering the direct and indirect effects of drinking each year. These include rising alcohol-related deaths (a doubling in the number of these deaths between 1982 and 2011), clear links between alcohol and crime (with 44% of all violent incidents committed by people who have been drinking) and significant costs to public services and communities. To date, no UK government has adopted a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy to tackle alcohol harms, in contrast to other areas of public health such as tobacco. To begin to fill this gap, the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies worked with leading charities and the Alcohol Health Alliance to bring together a group of researchers, advocated and clinicians who met over a two year period to develop an independent plan for action. This report, Health First, was published in March 2013 and sets out a longer term vision and a series of recommendations to change the UK’s relationship with alcohol. This presentation will outline how the strategy was developed and how it provides a useful example of as a civil society response to a public health problem. It will also outline how the work is now providing a platform for new research and policy and practice developments both in the UK and further afield.