Alcohol Use Disorders (116) The role of the alcohol industry (20) Do public health professionals and policymakers have adequate knowledge? (3)

1 March, 2024

[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/alcohol-use-disorders-114-role-alcohol-... ]

Dear Joseph.

I fully agree with you. Most of the countries believe they are making money with the alcohol business, but reality is the opposite.

I took two paragraphs from this source:

https://www.vitalstrategies.org/new-report-reveals-how-billions-of-dolla...

that supports this reasoning.

"Most people don’t realize that taxpayer money is fueling the alcohol industry which in turn creates a triple burden for countries—lost revenue, increased alcohol consumption, and overwhelmed public health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with lower health protections and higher alcohol-attributable deaths,” said report co-director, Nandita Murukutla, Vice President of Global Policy and Research.

Even as countries struggle to meet their health care needs, including the soaring costs of noncommunicable diseases like cancer and heart disease, that many of them continue to promote the very products (alcohol, unhealthy foods, and tobacco) that harm people’s health by causing such diseases. They’re also fueling a growing economic and social burden that strain health systems, harm people, and exert an unnecessary cost on societies

Kind regards,

Eduardo

Dr. Eduardo Bianco

Director, Addiction Training Program (ATP)

Email: ebianco@nextgenu.org

Web: NextGenU.org

HIFA profile: Eduardo Bianco is a medical doctor and Cardiologist, Certified Tobacco Cessation Expert with a Masters in Prevention and Treatment of Addictive Disorders. Currently, he is Chair of the World Heart Federation Tobacco Expert Group. Dr. Biancos research examines tobacco control and cessation, and he is a prominent member of several organizations that address tobacco control in Latin America. Dr. Bianco has worked for 25 years in Uruguay and Latin America to promote and train in smoking cessation treatment and tobacco control policies. He is also the former Regional Coordinator for the Americas of the Framework Convention Alliance and former Technical Director of the MOH Center for International Cooperation for Tobacco. ebianco AT nextgenu.org