Alcohol Consumption Policy: Preventing Alcohol Related Health Issues

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Australia's alcohol consumption policy, aiming to prevent alcohol-related health risks and harms. It outlines the policy's purpose, which is to guide individuals in making informed decisions, advise healthcare providers, promote public health, and inform policy-makers. The report defines a standard drink and details the policy's scope, drawing from the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Risks from Drinking Alcohol. It covers related policies like the National Drug Strategy and the National Health and Medical Research Council's drinking guidelines, along with supporting information and procedures for individuals, the government, and healthcare providers. The report emphasizes the importance of health promotion, government regulations, and individual responsibility in mitigating alcohol-related issues, providing strategies for each group to minimize alcohol consumption and its adverse effects. References to key studies and guidelines are included to support the evidence-based approach of the policy.

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(Babor et 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’, in The 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.