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In this issue: Heart NGO calls for prevention; Nigeria u-turn; Polish tax veto; England deaths high; Alcohol’s injury toll; Minimum age rise benefits; Breast cancer contradiction; 0.0 rules: New highlights from AR2025
Join AR2026. Register now to participate in a unique event to underpin global efforts to reduce alcohol harm. Live online sessions on March 26th will look at Alcohol and artificial intelligence, while impactful video sessions spotlight all kins of cutting-edge research, advocacy, ideas and innovations. Check out last year’s event, preview this year’s, and secure your place.
Sizing up the AI wave: The global effort to curb alcohol harm will see a wave of change from the rollout of artificial intelligence (AI), but how big will it be? Will it be a ripple, crashing breaker, tidal surge or shattering tsunami?
News
Heart NGO calls for prevention: The EU should “shift from harm reduction toward a clear alcohol prevention approach, combining awareness, regulation and fiscal action”, the European Heart Network this month.
“Any level of alcohol consumption carries cardiovascular risk; there is no risk-free threshold,” said the Brussels not-for-profit, justifying the need for this prevention-centred approach in a new position paper.
The paper calls for: mandatory energy and health warnings on all alcohol products; establish minimum taxes; restrict alcohol marketing and sponsorship, especially when they reach young people; the elimination of EU alcohol product subsidies; and raise public awareness of the cardiovascular risks. [Comment]
Nigeria’s sachet u-turn: Nigeria’s federal government this month ordered the immediate suspension of all enforcement activities related to the ban on sachet alcohol, which the Senate last month ordered to be enforced from December 31st. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project NGO took legal action to prevent the federal government from blocking enforcement. [Comment]
Polish veto: Poland’s right-wing populist president President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a government bill which would have raised taxes on alcoholic drinks. [Comment]
England’s deaths remain high: Alcohol deaths in England were 32% above pre-pandemic levels in 2024, despite a 7% fall from the post-pandemic peak the year before. Over 9,000 more people died from causes directly linked to alcohol since the pandemic than if deaths were at 2019 levels. [Comment]
Alcohol’s high injury toll: Alcohol caused nearly a third of the 460,000 injury deaths in Europe in 2019, says a new WHO Regional Office for Europe report. Alcohol attributable self-harm was the biggest contributor, at just under a third of cases, followed by road injuries with half that. [Comment]
Minimum age rise benefits: Increasing the minimum legal drinking age in some European countries reduced the cohort’s alcohol consumption and increased their exam performance, a study found. [Comment]
Breast cancer contradiction: A new study did not find evidence that alcohol consumption increases breast cancer risk, contradicting previous research, but it did confirm increased cancer risk for body parts directly exposed to alcohol. [Comment]
EU 0.0 rules: The European Parliament this month agreed the term “alcohol-free” can be used together with the shorthand “0.0%” if a product’s is less than 0.05% alcohol by volume. [Comment]
Feature
New highlights from AR2025
Before the AR2026 on March 26th we have assembled a few new highlights from this year’s debut annual event.
“Nanny is killing us right now. Government is subsidising alcohol,” said Grant Ennis, author of Dark PR, in a live plenary session at AR2025. Watch the full session.
Participants learned how Knowalcohol.ca enables users to better understand Canada’s guidance on alcohol and health. Watch the full session.
How will the future of alcohol delivery look and how do people feel about it? AR2035 offered some insights. Watch the full session.
Alcohol companies use “better for you claims” in their marketing to distract from alcohol’s health harms, participants learned. Watch the full session.
Are there potential loopholes in UK laws on the TV placement of alcohol products? It would seem there are. Watch the full session.
The alcohol industry intimidates alcohol researchers around the world, delegates heard. Watch the full session
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