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26th November 2007
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Alcohol Health Alliance launches in the UK
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A coalition of leading health organisations was launched in November 2007, and called on the UK Government to do more to prevent the rise in alcohol-related diseases. The Alcohol Health Alliance UK is campaigning for increases in alcohol taxation, restrictions on alcohol advertising, promotional materials carrying key health messages and reductions in the UK drink driving limits (especially for young drivers).
The Alliance will bring together medical bodies, patient representatives and alcohol health campaigners – including Alcohol Concern, the British Liver Trust, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Royal College of Physicians (whose President - Ian Gilmore – is the chairman of the Alliance). Working together, the Alliance members aim to highlight the rising levels of alcohol health harm, propose evidence-based solutions to reduce this harm, and influence decision makers to take positive action to address the damage caused by alcohol misuse. IHRA has enquired about joining this innovative group on behalf of the Global Alcohol Harm Reduction Network (GAHR-Net)
The Alcohol Health Alliance is based on the same model of public health coalitions that have previously been formed for various other topics – including the Drugs Health Alliance (of which IHRA is a member). This is the first time, however, that such a group has existed specifically to co-ordinate campaigning on alcohol.
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 Click here for the Alcohol Health Alliance leaflet [PDF:41KB]
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12th November 2007
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ALDP Launch New Search Engine
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The Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP) has recently developed and launched the ‘Addiction Search Engine’ (ASE) - a customised Google search engine designed to help people find information relating to addiction, alcohol- and drug-related issues. The ASE searches specially selected websites and the sites that they are linked to.
ALDP have also issued a call for contributors to this new resource. There is currently a provision for up to 100 volunteer contributors. To contribute, you will need a 'Gmail' email account. If you are interested, please contact Tony Duffin (the Director of ALDP) for instructions on how to proceed.
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23rd October 2007
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IHRA Launch Alcohol Website and Network
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The International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) is pleased to announce the launch of a new website dedicated to the topic of alcohol harm reduction. The website aims to be a central source for information on this developing topic – including key events, publications, resources, contacts, and details of IHRA’s work in this field. The website will also be the home for IHRA’s new 'Global Alcohol Harm Reduction Network’ (GAHR-Net).
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Drinking alcohol brings health, personal, cultural and social benefits for many people around the world – yet also causes significant mental, physical and social harms. In the last 20 years there has developed an increasing interest in alcohol harm reduction interventions. These tend to focus on particular risk behaviours (such as drinking and driving, binge drinking), particular risk groups (such as pregnant women, young people) and particular drinking contexts (such as bars and clubs). These approaches have also broadened the sphere of interest in alcohol related harms to include social nuisance and public order problems.
In 2004, IHRA made a strategic decision to expand its focus from illegal drugs towards ‘all psychoactive substances’ - including alcohol - in recognition of the need for new developments and ideas in the alcohol field. Since then, IHRA has campaigned to seek acceptance for alcohol harm reduction from national governments, local agencies and international organisations. This new website and network are part of IHRA’s 2007 ‘Alcohol Strategy’.
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