Eric Carlin. Alcohol Policy network in Europe (APN).

1. Alcohol Policy Network in Europe (APN)
Symposium, 22nd June 2023, Vilnius, Lithuania
WHO/EU Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION): Update
Dr Eric Carlin, WHO Regional Office for Europe

2. • Focus on reducing alcohol consumption and
harms
• Includes 10% APC reduction by 2025, with at least
35 Member States being below baseline of 2010.

3. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption
for cancer risk
Half of all alcohol- attributable cancers are
NOT because of heavy drinking + so is the
majority of breast cancers. 3

4. WHO/EU Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION)

5. Source: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/total-(recorded-unrecorded)-alcohol-per-capita-(15-)-consumption (2019 data)
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Annually, every adult (15+) in the EU drinks 11 litres of pure alcohol
Out of the top 10 countries with highest drinking levels: 7 are in the EU

6. Source: Source: own calculations, based on Rumgay et al., 2021; Sung et al., 2021.
Alcohol-attributable cancer cases (lighter colours) and deaths (darker colours) in the EU, by sex and cancer type, 2020.
Alcohol-attributable cancer cases and deaths in the EU
In the EU, 3 out of
10 deaths from alcohol-
attributable causes were
due to alcohol-
attributable cancers
(2019 data).

7. Official launch of WHO/EU
Evidence into Action Alcohol
Project (EVID-ACTION) and
meeting of EVID-ACTION Focal
Point Network on Alcohol
6 – 7 December 2022, Copenhagen

9. Alcohol Health Warnings
Capacity Building, Health
Literacy, Public Knowledge
and Advocacy
Screening and Brief
Interventions
Evidence
and Tools
for Action
WHO EU
Member
States’ Focal
point on
Alcohol
Alcohol
Action
Networks
Training
Alcohol
Health
Warnings
Screening
and Brief
interventions
Public
information
EU Member
States, Iceland,
Norway and
Ukraine
WHO/EU Evidence into Action
Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION)

10. WHO/EU Evidence into
Action Alcohol Project
(EVID-ACTION):
Expected results
a) Improved technical capabilities
Higher levels of awareness
Increased support for evidence-
based policies
b) Training packages on
implementation of brief
interventions
c) Strengthened capacity to apply
innovative methods in alcohol health
promotion activities

11. Specific objective
(SO) one:
Health warnings
Develop the evidence base on alcohol
health warnings, with a specific focus
on cancer risks, to inform the design and
development and implementation of
impactful alcohol health warnings.

12. SO1: Alcohol health
warnings: Activities to
date & planned
Establishment of
Technical Advisory
Group (TAG)
20 experts worldwide, 1st meeting Dec 2022, 2nd, online meeting Feb and March 2023, next meeting planned Q3 2023
Establishing working groups in the TAG, e.g. working group on legal experts
Experiments Online experiment investigating impact of (cancer) warnings on attention, knowledge, risk perceptions and intentions.
Dissemination in 14 EU countries, 19000+ responses
First protocol draft of an exploratory eye-tracking study on the impact of label design on attention
Co-creation
workshops
Pilot workshops in Ireland in Dec 2022, involving different population groups
Further consultations in association with the established networks
Real-world studies Pilot study with WHO CC in Barcelona: point of sale labels with general health harm message and QR code to investigate
number of shoppers using it to look for the information online
Establishment of collaboration initiative with Nordic countries for further studies on impact of health messages and QR code
use in Nordic monopolies
Publications Producing draft report describing findings of the online experiment and pilot studies
Producing several peer-reviewed articles based on the conducted reviews and the experimental evidence

14. What is the reach of QR codes as
sources of product information for
alcoholic beverages?
Pilot study: Barcelona
Setting: Supermarket
Information via: Point of sale
Information
components:
“Alcohol harms your health”
For more information see QR code
Result:
Less than 1 per mille of paying
costumers assessed website via QR
code
Conclusion: Providing QR via point of sale will likely
not lead to high reach of consumers
Source: Rehm et al., 2023
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13676

15. Specific objective
(SO) two:
Capacity building, Health
literacy, public knowledge
and advocacy
• Strengthening expertise and sharing
of experience
• Supporting Member States’
resilience in protecting public health
interests in relation to alcohol policies
• National and transnational regulatory
collaboration
• Public communications about alcohol
consumption and cancer risks and
policy options.

16. Training session for EVID-ACTION Member states on how
to recognize and manage Conflicts of Interest,
Copenhagen, 7th December 2022
Professor Jeff Collin, Professor of Global Health
Policy, Global Health Policy Unit, University of
Edinburgh
Dr Nason Maani, Lecturer in Inequalities and
Global Health Policy, Global Health Policy Unit,
University of Edinburgh

17. WHO/EU
Evidence into Action Alcohol Project
(EVID-ACTION)
Early career researcher seminar
on alcohol and public health,
Tallinn, 14-15 May 2023

19. Baltic Alcohol
Control Dialogues
Tallinn, 16-17 May 2023

21. Training session for EVID-ACTION Member
States representatives in alcohol
epidemiology: what are the key indicators
and how to collect and manage these?
Tallinn, 18 May 2023

23. Intersectoral health
tax workshop
Tallinn, 19 May 2023

26. Specific objective
(SO) three
Screening and
Brief Interventions
(SBIs)
• Provide technical tools and training
to support implementation of
evidence-based screening and brief
interventions in:
• Primary healthcare
• Workplace
• Social services
• Assess and map existing resources
and tools

27. Intercountry expert consultation on
brief interventions (BRIEF),
Barcelona, 24th – 26th April 2023

28. 1) Raising EU visibility and
promoting the collaboration
of WHO and the EU
2) Raising Awareness
3) Changing perceptions
Target audiences
Communications
Objectives
Project
partners
Decision
makers
Narrative
shapers
EU, DG Sante, WHO HQ,
UN Organizations, NGOs
Member States,
health, social protection, finance
ministries, policy advisors in
government
civil society organizations, youth
organizations, academics; health system
stakeholders, country experts, public
health influencers and influential media.
Clear and comprehensive messages targeted at the general
public and tailored to:

29. WHO/EU Evidence into Action Alcohol Project
(EVID-ACTION)
‘Disrupting narratives on alcohol’:
Expert workshop on communications
Copenhagen, 30th March 2023

30. Stockholm, 3rd –
12th May 2023

31. Some of the planned activities coming up later in 2023:
Vilnius:
22nd June, Alcohol Policy Network
23rd June, EUCAM Digital Marketing Conference
24th June WHO Expert meeting on Alcohol Digital Marketing also
with support of Government of Netherlands)
Barcelona:
11th – 13th September, Research conference, including
Early Career Researchers meeting
Brussels:
7th – 8th October, 1st Meeting EVID-ACTION Youth Network
9th – 10th October, EVID-ACTION Member States Focal Point
meeting
11th October, Launch of WHO Alcohol Playbook
November: Activities related to European Awareness Week on
Alcohol- Related harms

32. Thank you!
32
http://www.euro.who.int/alcohol