High and dry: Government's alcohol plan rejected by leading health organisations

High and dry: Government's alcohol plan rejected by leading health organisations

 

• Health chiefs accused of allowing drinks companies to dictate policy
• Calorie labels expected at fast food chains but changes will be voluntary
• Backlash comes as Alan Milburn rejects chance to be on NHS Comissioning Board
  

Six leading health organisations have slammed the Government's 'responsibility deal' on alcohol - which is a voluntary agreement by the drinks industry and supermarkets to tackle unhealthy living - and refused to sign up as partners.

Under the deal, the drinks industry would be asked to sign up to a number of alcohol pledges. These include ensuring 80 per cent of products show how many units they hold and taking action to reduce under-age drinking.

Six leading health organisations have slammed the government's alcohol plan to tackle binge drinking. The accuse it of allowing the drinks industry to dictate policy. (Image posed by models)

There would also be a pledge on advertising and marketing by promoting responsible drinking and keeping alcohol adverts away from schools.

The deal will also encourage people to adopt a healthier diet and exercise more. Ministers are expected to announce this week that fast food and sandwich chains will display calories counts on menus as part of the agreement. 

WHAT DOES THE 'RESPONSIBILITY DEAL' SET OUT TO TACKLE?

The Coalition's plan aims to encourage charities, businesses and local health services to work together on the problems caused by poor diet, alcohol abuse and lack of exercise.

The deal is split into three 'pillars'.

PILLAR ONE: Help people adopt a better diet and increase levels of physical activity

* Support EU proposal for mandatory Guideline Daily Amounts food labelling. Any traffic light labels will be voluntary

* Ask industry to reduce salt, saturated fat, and sugar

* No plan to restrict food advertising any further

* Will work with businesses to promote healthy living

PILLAR TWO: Encourage people to drink sensibly

*Promote positive peer pressure towards responsible drinking

* Work with industry  to improve labelling to make people more aware of units of alcohol and guideline limits

* Ask drinks industry to encourage responsible drinking through advertising and marketing

* Encourage Community Alcohol Partnerships where information is shared between retailers and local authorities on underage drinkers

PILLAR THREE: Enhance occupational health services at work

* Propose 'Health at Work' schemes with contributions from NHS to promote a good diet and exercise in the workplace

* Support an ‘Investor in Health’ accreditation scheme alongside ‘Investors
in People’

And larger fast food chains will introduce healthier meals thanks to a voluntary deal between the industry and the Food Standards Agency watchdog.

The responsibility deal relies heavily on the cooperation of health charities and doctors leaders, but six organisations have already rejected the alcohol strand of the deal.

The group, which includes Alcohol Concern, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians, have accused the Department of Health of allowing the drinks industry to dictate health policy and offering plenty of 'carrots without the stick.'

They said the pledges were neither specific nor measurable and there was no evidence such voluntary interventions would be effective.

In a statement they said: 'We have not yet seen evidence that Government is working towards a comprehensive, cross-departmental strategy to reduce alcohol harm, based on evidence of what works, with rigorous evaluation metrics.'

It is a blow to the Health Secretary as the group - which also includes the British Association for the Study of the Liver, the British Liver Trust and Institute of Alcohol Studies - had been involved in the Government's Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network (RDAN).

The organisations called on the Government to provide a clear and firm commitment on how it intends - via evidence-based policy - to tackle affordability, availability and promotion of alcohol as part of a cross-government strategy.

They also demanded a clear presentation of the steps that will be taken if the current RDA objectives are not met in 12 months' time.

The group suggested a firm commitment to consider change - including through regulation - if voluntary commitments from business are not met after an agreed time period.

Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: 'This is the worst possible deal for everyone who wants to see alcohol harm reduced.

'There are no firm targets or any sanctions if the drinks industry fails to fulfil its pledges.

'It's all carrot and no stick for the drinks industry and supermarkets.

'By allowing the drinks industry to propose such half-hearted pledges on alcohol with no teeth, this Government has clearly shown that when it comes to public health its first priority is to side with big business and protect private profit.'

Results: Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the deal had achieved a lot

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, director of professional activities at the BMA, said: 'The Government has talked the talk in respect of wanting to tackle alcohol misuse but when it comes to taking tough action that will achieve results, it falls short.

'Instead it has chosen to rely on the alcohol industry to develop policies - given the inherent conflict of interest these will do nothing to reduce the harm caused by alcohol misuse.'

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the 'responsibility deal' was working with the industry to get quicker results.

He said: 'We have made clear from the start that the responsibility deal is just one strand of the Government's wide public health policy. It explicitly excludes cost and price competition to avoid conflicts of interest.

'The Treasury have already announced an introduction of a new tax on super-strength beers; the Home Office have made their announcement on a ban in sales of alcohol below cost and plans to tighten licensing laws; and, our public health strategy sets out how local areas will be given a ring-fenced public health budget to ensure alcohol misuse gets the priority it deserves.

'In tandem to this action, the responsibility deal is working with the industry on voluntary agreements to get speedier results.

'For example, to improve unit labelling. The Responsibility Deal has achieved more in the last six months than the previous Government's Coalition for Better Health did in a year and a half. What is more, this is only the first step.'

The latest backlash comes just a week after former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn rejected a government offer to become a candidate for the chair of the NHS Commissioning Board.

The Health Service Journal reported that Alan Milburn had turned down the offer to throw his hat in the ring for the role after he was asked by Mr Lansley. Mr Milburn recently told the Nuffield Trust summit there was a lack of 'advocacy and advocates' for the health reforms.

McDonald's and Burger King are expected to introduce calorie information this September (posed by models)

However, some encouraging changes are expected to be adopted by junk food giants.

KFC is to start selling healthier griddled chicken alongside the usual fried options and Pizza Hut is promoting a low-calorie menu that encourages diners to eat salad.

Burger King and McDonald’s are poised to introduce menus with calorie information from September.

Meanwhile Heineken has announced that all 11million glasses used in pubs and clubs bearing logos of Foster’s, Bulmers, Kronenbourg or its other brands will carry information on the number of units per pint.