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Review
. 2022 Dec;117(12):3024-3036.
doi: 10.1111/add.16003.

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity-a summary of the third edition

Thomas F Babor  1 , Sally Casswell  2 , Kathryn Graham  3   4 , Taisia Huckle  2 , Michael Livingston  5   6   7 , Jürgen Rehm  8   9   10   11   12 , Robin Room  13   14 , Ingeborg Rossow  15 , Bundit Sornpaisarn  4   16   17
Affiliations
Review

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity-a summary of the third edition

Thomas F Babor et al. Addiction. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Background and aims: This article summarizes the findings and conclusions of the third edition of Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity. The latest revision of this book is part of a series of monographs designed to provide a critical review of the scientific evidence related to alcohol control policy from a public health perspective.

Design: A narrative summary of the contents of the book according to five major issues.

Findings: An extensive amount of epidemiological evidence shows that alcohol is a major contributor to the global burden of disease, disability and death in high-, middle- and low-income countries. Trends in alcohol products and marketing are described, indicating that a large part of the global industry has been consolidated into a small number of transnational corporations that are expanding their operations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The main part of the book is devoted to a review of strategies and interventions designed to prevent or minimize alcohol-related harm. Overall, the most effective strategies to protect public health are taxation that decreases affordability and restrictions on the physical availability of alcohol. A total ban on alcohol marketing is also an effective strategy to reduce consumption. In addition, drink-driving counter-measures, brief interventions with at-risk drinkers and treatment of drinkers with alcohol dependence are effective in preventing harm in high-risk contexts and groups of hazardous drinkers.

Conclusion: Alcohol policy is often the product of competing interests, values and ideologies, with the evidence suggesting that the conflicting interests between profit and health mean that working in partnership with the alcohol industry is likely to lead to ineffective policy. Opportunities for implementation of evidence-based alcohol policies that better serve the public good are clearer than ever before as a result of accumulating knowledge on which strategies work best.

Keywords: Alcohol; epidemiology; industry; interventions; policy; public health; research.

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References

REFERENCES

    1. Bruun K, Edwards G, Lumio M, Makela K, Pan L, Popham RE, et al. Alcohol Control Policies in Public Health Perspective 25 Helsinki: Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies; 1975.
    1. Edwards G, Anderson P, Babor TF, Casswell S, Ferrence R, Giesbrecht N, et al. Alcohol Policy and the Public Good Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1994.
    1. Babor TF, Caetano R, Casswell C, Edwards G, Giesbrecht N, Graham K, et al. Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity 1st ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 2003.
    1. Room R. Global intergovernmental initiatives to minimise alcohol problems: some good intentions, but little action. Eur J Risk Regul. 2021;12:419-32.
    1. Rossow I, Mäkelä P. Public health thinking around alcohol- related harm: why does per capita consumption matter? J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2021;82:9-17.

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