The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) today welcomed the new guidelines on alcohol consumption, and called for mandatory health warnings on all alcohol products to reflect the new advice.
CEO Todd Harper says the new Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol, released today by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), are a major step towards the promotion of a healthier and safer drinking culture.
“Providing consumers with drinking guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence will help people to make informed choices about their health.
“It’s important that we now take this to the next level and make the guidelines visible for people using text and graphic illustrations on all labels.
“Evidence shows that warning labels, combined with other strategies do change behaviours.
Alcohol consumption is associated with a range of diseases that can cause death and reduce the quality of life.
“For the first time, the guidelines look at the lifetime risk of harm from drinking alcohol. This fits with the community’s concern about the negative impacts of alcohol on individuals and the ripple effect it has on friends, family, workmates and the broader community.
“More than one in ten Australians report being ‘put in fear’ by a person under the influence of alcohol, and one in four report being subjected to alcohol-related verbal abuse.
VicHealth also strongly welcomes the new guideline for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
“Maternal drinking can result in a spectrum of harms to the unborn child.
“Recent data revealed that almost two thirds of Australian women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, and that 14 per cent reported drinking five or more drinks in a sitting in the three months prior to pregnancy.
“At this stage it is uncertain what the full effects on the unborn baby are from drinking during pregnancy.
“The new guideline provides clear advice to the community to prevent the risk and avoid drinking during pregnancy and breastfeeding,” Mr Harper said.