Passage 1 WHO Launches Worldwide War on Booze
世界衛(wèi)生組織向酗酒宣戰(zhàn) 《新科學(xué)家》
[00:00]Humanity's relationship with alcohol has never been easy.
[00:06]Now it is about to undergo as great a change as our attitude to tobacco,
[00:13]which has seen smoking plummet from the height of cool
[00:17]to the lowest of unpleasant habits.
[00:20]That at least is the hope of the World Health Organization, which,
[00:25]between now and January,
[00:27]will be honing its draft of the first global strategy
[00:31]on reducing health damage from alcohol abuse,
[00:36]the fifth leading cause of premature death and disability worldwide.
[00:41]Member states will be invited to ratify the finalized version of the document
[00:48]at the meeting of the World Health Assembly in May,
[00:52]but the document will not be legally binding.
[00:56]Its purpose instead is to raise awareness among governments
[01:01]about the importance of reducing alcohol abuse and to provide data
[01:07]that will persuade electorates that new laws
[01:11]are required-thereby emboldening governments to take action.
[01:17]The document will also present a menu of legal and governmental strategies
[01:23]that have been shown to work.
[01:26]"It will provide knowledge and awareness about the size of the problem,
[01:30]and advice about the most cost-effective policies," says Anderson.
[01:37]The impetus for action is founded on the growing realization
[01:42]that alcohol doesn't just harm those who drink,
[01:46]combined with a better knowledge of intervention strategies.
[01:51]For example, in March the UK government's chief medical officer,
[01:57]Liam Donaldson,
[01:58]devoted a chapter of his 2008 annual report to "passive drinking" ,
[02:05]the damage that heavy drinkers wreak on others.
[02:09]To illustrate the extent of the problem in the UK,
[02:13]he reported that in 2008, there were 125,000 "alcohol-related instances
[02:22]of domestic violence",
[02:24]that an estimated 6000 babies are born annually
[02:29]with fetal alcohol syndrome and that in 2006, 7000 people
[02:35]were injured and 560 killed as a result of drink-driving,
[02:41]not including the drivers.
[02:44]Persuading governments and citizens of the problem is just the first step,
[02:49]though. What, if anything, can be done to stop people from drinking to excess?
[02:56]To some extent, strategies will depend on location. In rich countries,
[03:03]for example, the focus is likely to be on stopping young people
[03:08]from binge drinking, whereas introducing drink-driving laws
[03:13]may be a priority in rapidly developing countries,
[03:17]where newly acquired wealth is increasing ownership of cars
[03:22]and access to alcohol. Generally, however,
[03:27]the WHO says the most effective measures are to raise prices
[03:32]through heavy taxation based on alcohol content,
[03:37]and to reduce the availability of alcohol
[03:40]through strict licensing schemes limiting opening times
[03:44]and the number of outlets.
[03:48]Such strategies may smack of overactive government,
[03:52]but recent findings suggest these measures work.
[03:57]Alex Wagenaar of the University of Florida, Gainesville,
[04:01]and colleagues reviewed 112 studies examining the effects of price
[04:08]and tax on alcohol consumption and found that, on average,
[04:14]a 10 per cent increase in the price of beer reduced consumption by 5 per cent,
[04:20]of wine by 7 per cent and spirits by 8 per cent.
