In September, the United Nations will be holding a Summit as a means of bringing global attention to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and agreeing on a strategy to address them.

The Summit will focus on four non-communicable diseases:  cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, and will also look at and the common risk factors of alcohol and tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and environmental carcinogens.

Why the Summit? Because NCDs have overtaken infectious diseases to be the leading causes of deaths worldwide – responsible for almost two-thirds of deaths in 2008.

However, there are rumblings that industry interests might usurp evidence based public health interventions, with the alcohol industry having one of the highest representations. Big tobacco and food will be participating too.

Alcohol (and also ethanol, which all alcohol contains) is a known cause of cancer and has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen since 1998.

Alcohol misuse was responsible for 2.3 million deaths (3.8 per cent) globally in 2008 and more than half of these deaths were from NCDs.

From these stats it’s pretty easy to see why the alcohol industry (make that all industries) wants to have its finger in the summit pie – many NCDs arise from marketing and lifetime consumption of products on which these sectors depend for their earnings.

And well we know how these industries tend to react when there’s talk of reducing marketing and consumption of products!

The summit needs to focus on its aim – developing a global strategy for the prevention and reduction of NCDs. Maybe competing interests do have a place at the table in terms of information and robust discussion, but I don’t they should be influencing the direction of public health policy.

What do you think? Do you think that the private sector should have a role in public health policy development? Email CAAN@adf.org.au

Until next week,

Sarah Jaggard
Community Mobilisation Policy Officer

Australia's population is ageing rapidly. Older Australians are more likely to drink on a daily basis, take multiple medications, have multiple medical problems and be socially isolated.

Despite this, older people are under-represented in alcohol and other drug (AOD) services. This seminar will look discuss these issues.

When: 5 September 2011, 10.00am–12.30pm (9.30am registration & refreshments)

Where: William Angliss Conference Centre, Level 5, 555 La Trobe Street (cnr King & La Trobe St), Melbourne

Bookings: tel. 1300 85 85 84 or send your name, organisation and contact phone number to druginfo@adf.org.au; bookings close at 4:00 pm on Thurs 1 Sep 2011.

For further information click here

Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, Western Australia from 6 – 8 June 2012.

As the leading voice in Indigenous drug and alcohol policy advice, the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee (NIDAC) is proud to host Australia’s second National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Conference (NIDAC 2012).

Based on the theme, Beyond 2012: Leading the Way to Action, NIDAC 2012 aims to highlight how the sector is able to lead the way to action in addressing the harmful effects of alcohol and other drugs and its associated harms among Indigenous Australians.

Social networking increases risk of teen drug abuse: study
Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2011
Time spent social networking increases the risk of teens smoking, drinking and using drugs, according to a national survey of American attitudes on substance abuse. On a typical day, 70 per cent of teens ages 12 to 17 - 17 million teenagers - spend from a minute to hours on Facebook, Myspace and other social networking sites, according to The National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

Alcohol services condemn fines
The Age, 24 August 2011
Specialist drug and alcohol workers should be deployed with police targeting public drunks, and new fines of up to $1100 should be used to boost treatment services, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association says.

Alcohol curb bid one too many
The West Australian, 24 August 2011
Alcohol has been a part of community life for many years. Most West Australians, most of the time, consume alcohol in a responsible manner. Those are not my words, although I agree with the sentiments. They were written by Alfred Cove MLA Janet Woollard in a foreword to a report on alcohol abuse released in June by the WA Parliament's education and health standing committee, of which she is chairwoman.

Alarm as booze ads flourish online
The West Australian, 27 August 2011
Health experts have raised concerns about the increasing amount of alcohol advertising on social networking sites and YouTube. The report by Alcohol Concern, called 'New media, new problem? Alcohol, young people and the internet', recommends sites such as Facebook and Twitter should not be allowed to promote alcohol, given many of their users are children.

Pub violence 'out of control' in Newcastle
The Herald, 27 August 2011
The police union says its officers are concerned about a resurgence of ‘‘out-of-control booze-fuelled violence’’ in Newcastle and want tough measures for violent pubs and clubs. The NSW Police Association call comes after an officer was injured while responding to an incident at MJ Finnegans in Darby Street last weekend.

Hip flasks cop flak for targeting youth
Geelong Advertiser, 30 August 2011
Hip flasks are being marketed to young Geelong women and men as a fashion accessory. Popular Ryrie St clothing outlet factorie is selling the flasks in a range of fashion designs, including hot pink snakeskin, blue or pink floral, denim, graffiti and lavender with the words "It Girl" printed on the front.