WHO urges minimum price on alcohol
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is the latest organisation to call for a minimum price on alcohol.
The move comes as the debate on minimum pricing hots up after the coalition Government highlighted cheap supermarket alcohol as an issue in the UK and suggested a ban on below cost sales.
Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy last week pledged support of a ban on below-cost sales of alcohol in supermarkets, and even agreed with minimum pricing.
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, the British Beer and Pub Association and pub operator Mitchells and Butlers also backed reform of alcohol pricing to some degree.
The World Health Organisation set out a portfolio of policy options to help reduce alcohol abuse at the recent World Health Assembly conference.
It stated that cheaper alcohol encouraged greater consumption, causing more related harm.
Planned pricing policies were:
• Establishing a system for specific domestic taxation on alcohol accompanied by an effective enforcement system
• Regularly reviewing prices in relation to level of inflation and income
• Banning or restricting the use of direct and indirect price promotions
• Establishing minimum prices for alcohol where applicable
• Providing price incentives for non-alcoholic beverages
• Reducing or stopping subsidies to economic operators in the area of alcohol
WHO also flagged up the marketing of alcohol as an area of concern, both in content and the amount of exposure to young people.
Its policies include regulating the content and volume of marketing, sponsorship activities promoting alcohol and new forms of marketing such as social media.
It also wants to restrict or ban promotions connected with young people's activities and set up "effective" deterrent systems for infringements on marketing restrictions.
