Programme aimed at reducing harm of increased alcohol consumption

Consumption expected to peak in 2005

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Per capita consumption of alcohol in Finland has quadrupled since 1960, and this year the reduction in the price of alcohol, combined with the end of personal import quotas from other EU countries, is expected to raise consumption by another 15 - 20%.
      Experts predict that annual per capita consumption may grow to 11 litres next year, which would be the second-highest consumption rate in Europe, right after Luxembourg.
     
In a national alcohol programme made public on Tuesday, the projected continued increase in alcohol consumption is seen as a serious threat to Finnish public health, social well-being, and security.
      The aim of the programme is to reduce the harm caused by alcohol to the well-being of children and families, and the damage to health caused by heavy drinking itself. Another goal is to eventually reduce overall consumption.
      As part of the programme, a number of municipalities, organisations, religious groups, the state administration, and businesses have signed partnership agreements aimed at preventing and reducing harm.
      "The partnership means a division of labour. Everyone does what they are best at", says the programme’s coordinator Marjatta Montonen.
      "There are no quick fixes", warns the chairwoman of the executive committee of the programme, Aino-Inkeri Hansson of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
     
One of the aims of the alcohol programme is to reduce consumption among both heavy and light drinkers. Heavy drinkers are at a greater risk of health problems than moderate consumers, but even low consumption is a hazard for young people, and in traffic.
      Montonen notes that more people seem to be driving with blood alcohol levels only slightly below the legal limit.
      "The damage affects all, and it arises immediately, and over a longer period of time. It damages human relationships, eats away at well-being, and is manifested as problems suffered by children and young people, as well as a decline in overall security", Hansson points out.
      The impact of the programme will be assessed in two and a half years as part of a report on social and health issues that is to be submitted to the government. The issue of alcohol taxation could also be addressed in that connection.
     
The cuts in alcohol taxation have already been reflected in increased drinking-related harm.
      The facility in Helsinki where police bring heavily intoxicated people to sober up reports an increase of about 50% in the number of customers, many of whom are more intoxicated than before.
      Many of the customers say that they have switched from beer and wine to strong spirits. Some will knock back a small bottle of vodka as quickly as they used to consume a bottle of beer. Binges increasingly lead to unconsciousness, and to the verge of alcohol poisoning.
     
The implications of Estonia’s upcoming EU membership on Finnish alcohol consumption has been a major topic of discussion in recent months.
      The state-owned drinks manufacturer Altia made headlines recently with certain products aimed specifically at the Estonian market, where most of them are expected to be bought by Finnish travellers for the trip back home. One such product is vodka packed in two-litre boxes.
      Esa Österberg, a special researcher at the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), is not sure that vodka in boxes will necessarily be a big hit.
      "Would you have the nerve to bring home ten litres of strong stuff? The wife might have something to say about it."
      Österberg believes that the abolished import limits might be replaced by social constraints, with people looking askance at those hauling huge amounts of strong spirits from other EU countries.


Links:
  Cheaper alcohol sparks surge in retail sales nationwide (12.3.2004)

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