National Alcohol Strategy 2000-2003

Full text version

Date of publication: March 2001

This is the full text online version of this document. You can also download this publication in PDF format.

---

Contents

Foreword

Part One
Introduction
Alcohol
Alcohol in New Zealand
National policy on alcohol-related harm
The relationship of the National Alcohol Strategy to the National Drug Policy
Implementation, monitoring and review
Overview of the National Alcohol Strategy

Part Two
Key Issues
Total consumption
Patterns of consumption
Types of alcohol-related harm
High-risk groups
Emerging awareness of other groups at risk
High-risk environments and events

Part Three
Priorities And Outcomes

Part Four
Strategies Overall approach
The Treaty of Waitangi
Principles
Supply control strategies
Demand reduction strategies
Problem limitation strategies

Part Five
Workforce Development
Broadening the base of education and training
Education and training for alcohol treatment specialists
Education and training for those working to prevent harm
Depth and breadth of education and training
Content of education and training programmes
Effectiveness of education and training
Wider issues for the specialist workforce

Part Six
The Monitoring Framework
Targets and indicators
Reporting
Going beyond the framework
References

List of Figures
Figure 1: Structure for implementation, monitoring and review of the National Alcohol Strategy
Figure 2: Alcohol available for consumption, per head of population aged 15 and above, 1950–1999
Figure 3: Number and type of licensed premises, 1990 versus 2000
Figure 4: Median quantity of alcohol consumed on a typical occasion, 1995
Figure 5: Typical quantities of alcohol consumed by people aged 14–19 and 20–65 years, 1990–1996
Figure 6: Deaths due to alcohol-related (primary cause) conditions, by sex and ethnicity, 1980–1993
Figure 7: Deaths where driver alcohol was a contributing factor 1985–1999
Figure 8: Proportion of people who drink five or more drinks on a typical day when drinking, by age and sex
Figure 9: Alcohol-related problems and associated responses



The goal of the National Alcohol Strategy is to minimise alcohol-related harm to individuals, families and society.

Part one introduces the strategy.

Part two provides a discussion and overview of key alcohol issues. It covers patterns of consumption, types of alcohol-related harm, and groups at risk of harm, as well as high-risk environments and events.

Part three lists the alcohol-related priorities for action, and the desired outcomes for each priority, as specified by the National Drug Policy.

Part four presents a range of strategies for addressing alcohol-related harm. The strategies are grouped into three broad categories – supply control, demand reduction and problem limitation.

Part five emphasises the importance of professional education in effectively addressing alcohol-related harm and outlines a range of strategies for workforce development.

Part six outlines a framework for monitoring and measuring progress towards the National Drug Policy’s alcohol-related outcomes, and presents a number of possibilities for future research.


Foreword

In all the debates we hear about drugs in New Zealand, it is sometimes possible to lose sight of the fact that the two drugs that cause the most harm to the most people in this country are legally available – tobacco and alcohol.

This document, New Zealand’s National Alcohol Strategy 2000–2003, helps us to put things back into perspective.

By focusing on alcohol-related harm, and by providing a context for our policies around making alcohol available, this Strategy allows us to start thinking about the types of steps we can take to prevent or reduce such alcohol-related problems.

Although a range of strategies are mentioned, it is important to recognise that the list here is not a prescriptive one, nor is it meant to be exhaustive. There is always room for new ideas and new approaches, and we should not be afraid to try different ways of doing things if we find that ‘business as usual’ no longer works.

It is also important to put this document into its own context.

In a formal sense, the National Alcohol Strategy sits under the New Zealand Health Strategy and the National Drug Policy. The New Zealand Health Strategy sets the platform for change and identifies key priority areas, the National Drug Policy sets out the Government’s commitment to minimise all drugrelated harm; and identifies various priority areas and desired outcomes towards this end. The National Alcohol Strategy is more specific: it develops a set of strategies by which to achieve the alcohol-related targets that are listed in the National Drug Policy.

In other words, The New Zealand Health Strategy sets the focus, the National Drug Policy tells us where we want to get to, while the National Alcohol Strategy is a more detailed ‘road map’ of how to get there for alcohol.

The overall goal of the National Alcohol Strategy is to help minimise alcohol-related harm to individuals, family/whanau, the community, and New Zealand society. While progress has been made in reducing alcohol-related harm, the costs remain high.

We should also remember that, in order to be effective, the National Alcohol Strategy will require effort by government and non-government agencies, the wider community, and also individuals. Everyone has a stake in making the Strategy work, and everyone can benefit if it does.

It simply remains for me to endorse this document, and to encourage people to work together to bring it to life.


Hon Annette King
Minister of Health

back to contents

next page

---

Related information

Other Ministry of Health Strategies

National Drug Policy website