ALCOHOL problems remain a major cause of health and social problems in our society. My associate Dr Olivia Doll, Senior Lecturer in the Subiaco College of Veterinary Studies, recently developed some innovative approaches to alcohol policy, together with a distinguished colleague, Professor Curig L’Épagneul, Dean of the Subiaco Institute for Alcohol Studies in Perth and Macallan Professor of Alcohol Experiential Proficiency. Their article, Alcohol – new thinking in prevention,  has now appeared in the EC Journal of Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine.

After a brief review of the evidence, Dr Doll and Professor L’Épagneul propose three novel policy approaches to reducing alcohol harm.

First, recognising the need to limit availability of alcohol products, the government should consider permitting sale of categories of alcohol products, such as wine, beer and spirits, only on specific days of the week (eg, wine on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, beer on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and spirits on Sundays, albeit with exemptions for religious purposes to enable use of communion wines on Sundays). They observe that this would limit excessive enjoyment by consumers, with the further benefit that “this strategy may be especially appropriate in developing countries such as New Zealand, where many consumers are often so focused on the national cult of rugby union football that they may not observe differences between different products consumed”.