This alcohol consumption policy provides guidelines, strategies, and policies to prevent alcohol-related health risks and harms in Australia. It aims to promote informed decision-making, provide evidence-based advice to healthcare providers, and give policy advice to the government and policy-makers.
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Alcohol Consumption Policy Policy Purpose The aim of this alcohol consumption policy is to provide a clear guideline, strategies and policies that can be used in Australia to prevent alcohol consumption related health risks and harms and thus enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their drinking, provide health care providers with evidence-based advise on health and alcohol consumption, promote population health and give policy advise to the government and policy-makers on the issues related to harm and alcohol consumption. Policy Details. According to the World Health Organization( WHO) 2019, alcohol is a psychoactive and toxic substance with high dependency. Alcohol consumption leads to poor health to many individuals as well as over three million deaths every year globally. Besides, the harmful use of alcohol constitutes over 5% of the global burden of disease in the whole world(WHO, 2011). Therefore, it is crucial to provide alcohol consumption policies to promote the health and wellness of individuals and their families as well as reduce the overall cost burden(Boden, 2017). This policy constitutes standards definitions related to harmful consumption of alcohol, evidenced-based strategies that can be used to prevent alcohol abuse in the country, scope and other related policies that promote healthy alcohol consumption in Australia. Policy Scope. This policy is adopted from the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Risks from Drinking Alcohol in 2009 and evidenced-based research from various studies and observations. The policy provides various ways individuals can prevent both immediate risks of injuries and long life-related harms associated with unsafe consumption of alcohol to individuals over 18 years as permitted by the Australian alcohol regulation laws and policies. (Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, 2017) In addition, the scope of this policy covers prevention of harms in children and teenagers under the age of 18, provide advice on how to minimize alcohol-related diseases burdens, and give evidence-based information to health professionals on advises they can give to either people using alcohol or not for health promotion purposes(Baboret al., 2013). This policy can be used by both health care workers, government and the general population. Definition Standard Drink One standard drink is equivalent to fourteen grams of pure alcohol which can be similar to 12 ounces (0.45 kg) of regular beer which usually have about 5% or 4.2% of alcohol, 5 ounces (189 gram) of wine which have 12% of alcohol and 1.5 ounce (56.7 g) of distilled spirits that contain 40% alcohol(Department of Health, 2017). Related Policies. The National Drug Strategy 2017-2016 The National Drug Strategy was created to provide interventions and guide government actions in providing strategies that balance, demand, supply and reduce harms related to tobacco, alcohol and other drugs in Australia general population(Department of Health, 2017). The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Drinking Guidelines. This policy was created to provide the Australian Alcohol Guidelines that constitute health and harms related to alcohol use in adults, children and country economics and proposed various control guidelines. Procedures. A comprehensive policy for effective control of alcohol consumption should include strategies from the following groups. Strategies population •Individuals taking alcohol should set goals and inhibit themselves from taking excessive alcohol. This should include drinking a maximum of two standard drinks per day or four standard drinks for occasional alcohol consumption. •Seek medical advice from health professionals if unable to take the standard amount of alcohol per day. •Follow country rules and regulations on alcohol consumption. •Create timetables and set days for alcohol intake. •Take a balanced diet before and after drinking alcohol Strategies and policies by the government •Reduce and regulate mid-night clubs which promote further alcohol intake •reduce the number of clubs in areas with high alcohol dependency individuals. •Control the amount of alcohol a bar can purchase per day in relevant to the available population. •Increase taxation rates on alcoholic beverages to reduce demand and affordability •Regulate strictly and enforce driving rules and regulations •Increase alcohol-free zones Strategies by healthcare providers. •Promote patients with alcohol dependence by providing advice on various alcohol avoiding techniques such as delay technique, distract technique, and urge surfing techniques. Supporting Information According to the National Health and Medical Research Council NHMRC, two standards drinks per day and four standard drinks for occasional drinkers per day reduces the risk of any alcohol- related injury and lifetime harm in both males and females(Department of Health, 2017). Health promotion and advice by health care workers have a great significant to prevent alcohol abuse by the public. The WHO recommends that government tariffs, increase taxation and implementation of rules and regulations that inhibit or lowers alcohol consumption plays a major role in decreasing alcohol-related health harms in any given country(Al-Yaman, 2017). References Al-Yaman, F. (2017) ‘The Australian Burden of Disease Study: impact and causes of illness and death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’,Public Health Research & Practice, 27(4), pp. 1–5. doi: 10.17061/phrp2741732. Babor, T.et al.(2013) ‘Who is responsible for the public’s health? The role of the alcohol industry in the WHO global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol’,Addiction. doi: 10.1111/add.12368. Boden, J. M. (2017) ‘Alcohol policies’, inThe Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-55747-2_53. Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health (2017) ‘The National Drug Strategy 2017-2026’, Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Health (2017) ‘The National Drug Strategy 2017-2026’,Commonwealth of Australia.