EU alcohol policies and free trade: consequences beyond its borders.

摘要

In response to your Editorial "Free trade rules exacerbate alcohol-related harm" (June 10, p 1875),we wish to draw attention to what is happening in another region of the world.Analysis of the burden of disease in the Americas indicates that alcohol is the leading risk factor for morbidity, ahead of tobacco use, malnutrition, and lack of sanitation.In 2000, it contributed to 97% of all disability-adjusted life-years and 4-8% of all mortality, totalling 279000 deaths in that year, which is proportionally higher than the global average or that in the European region.Most of the disease burden affects men (83-3%), and 77-4% of the burden is among those aged 15-44 years.The absence of effective national policies provides a fertile ground for the expansion of alcohol markets, marketing, and alcohol-related harm. The public is largely uninformed about what works, and often believes that personal freedoms are at stake when alcohol controls are proposed. In this climate, free trade agreements in the region have the potential to add to the devastating effects of harmful alcohol consumption. The examples of "liberalisation" in alcohol policy send the wrong message to the public and to policymakers in developing countries, who tend to believe that if developed countries are going that way, this must be good. Understanding history and science has never been so important for decision-makers, and countries can indeed learn from each other with respect to alcohol policy.We declare that we have no conflict of interest.