Community and Population Approaches to Alcohol Problems
These Guidelines focus on the treatment of established alcohol problems, not their prevention. A key limitation of this approach is that it only addresses the risks and problems once these have become manifest (and only those proportion that engage in treatment). A comprehensive public health approach to reducing the health and social harms associated with alcohol also includes community-level responses aimed at preventing excessive alcohol use which is comprehensively articulated in the National Alcohol Strategy 2019-2028 (2019)1. Like other clinical interventions, these interventions should be supported by evidence of feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and are described in detail elsewhere (Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy 2006; RACP & RANZCP, 2016).
Such interventions include:
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- Decreasing affordability through increased pricing, to be achieved by volumetric taxation reform;
- Reducing access to alcohol through restricting outlet density, blocking access altogether in specific locations, to certain age groups or at certain hours of the day;
- Restricting alcohol advertising (for example, those targeting high-risk groups, such as young people);
- Running campaigns to promote public awareness of risky patterns of alcohol use;
- Increasing the personal or community consequences associated with excessive drinking; for example, drink-drive legislation and random breath testing with associated penalties, workplace programs that lead to sanctions for presentations under the influence of alcohol.
These important policies are not considered further in these Guidelines.