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Rehm J, Badaras R, Ferreira-Borges C, Galkus L, Gostautaite Midttun N, Gobiņa I, Janik-Koncewicz K, Jasilionis D, Jiang H, Kim KV, Lange S, Liutkutė-Gumarov V, Manthey J, Miščikienė L, Neufeld M, Petkevičienė J, Radišauskas R, Reile R, Room R, Stoppel R, Tamutienė I, Tran A, Trišauskė J, Zatoński M, Zatoński WA, Zurlytė I, Štelemėkas M. Impact of the WHO "best buys" for alcohol policy on consumption and health in the Baltic countries and Poland 2000-2020. THE LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH. EUROPE 2023; 33:100704. [PMID: 37953993 PMCID: PMC10636269 DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol use is a major risk factor for burden of disease. This narrative review aims to document the effects of major alcohol control policies, in particular taxation increases and availability restrictions in the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) between 2000 and 2020. These measures have been successful in curbing alcohol sales, in general without increasing consumption of alcoholic beverages from unrecorded sources; although for more recent changes this may have been partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, findings from time-series analyses suggest improved health, measured as reductions in all-cause and alcohol-attributable mortality, as well as narrowing absolute mortality inequalities between lower and higher educated groups. For most outcomes, there were sex differences observed, with alcohol control policies more strongly affecting males. In contrast to this successful path, alcohol control policies were mostly dismantled in the neighbouring country of Poland, resulting in a rising death toll due to liver cirrhosis and other alcohol-attributable deaths. The natural experiment in this region of high-income European countries with high consumption levels highlights the importance of effective alcohol control policies for improving population health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen Rehm
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada
- World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization Collaborating Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1P8, Canada
- Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, Room 2374, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada
- Program on Substance Abuse & WHO CC, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, 81-95 Roc Boronat St., Barcelona 08005, Spain
| | - Robertas Badaras
- Faculty of Medicine, Clinic of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Centre of Toxicology, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio g. 21, Vilnius LT-03101, Lithuania
| | - Carina Ferreira-Borges
- World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, UN City, Marmorvej 5, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark
| | - Lukas Galkus
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
| | - Nijole Gostautaite Midttun
- Lithuanian Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition, Stikliu 8, Vilnius 01131, Lithuania
- Mental Health Initiative, Teatro 3-10, Vilnius 03107, Lithuania
| | - Inese Gobiņa
- Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Riga Stradiņš University, Kronvalda Boulevard 9, Riga LV-1010, Latvia
- Institute of Public Health, Riga Stradiņš University, Kronvalda Boulevard 9, Riga LV-1010, Latvia
| | - Kinga Janik-Koncewicz
- Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Nowy Swiat 4, Kalisz 62-800, Poland
- Health Promotion Foundation, Mszczonowska 51, Nadarzyn 05-830, Poland
| | - Domantas Jasilionis
- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Laboratory of Demographic Data, Konrad-Zuse-Str. 1, Rostock 18057, Germany
- Vytautas Magnus University, Demographic Research Centre, Jonavos g. 66, Kaunas 44191, Lithuania
| | - Huan Jiang
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1P8, Canada
| | - Kawon Victoria Kim
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada
| | - Shannon Lange
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada
- Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, Room 2374, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Vaida Liutkutė-Gumarov
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
| | - Jakob Manthey
- Faculty of Medicine, Center for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research (ZIS), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany
- Medical Faculty, Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Semmelweisstraße 10, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Laura Miščikienė
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
| | - Maria Neufeld
- World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, UN City, Marmorvej 5, Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark
| | - Janina Petkevičienė
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
- Faculty of Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
| | - Ričardas Radišauskas
- Faculty of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
- Institute of Cardiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Sukileliu Ave. 15, Kaunas 50162, Lithuania
| | - Rainer Reile
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
- Department for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Hiiu 42, Tallinn 11619, Estonia
| | - Robin Room
- Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia
- Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs, Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
| | - Relika Stoppel
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
| | - Ilona Tamutienė
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
- Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy at Vytautas Magnus University, V.Putvinskio Str 23, Kaunas LT-44243, Lithuania
| | - Alexander Tran
- Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Justina Trišauskė
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
| | - Mateusz Zatoński
- Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Nowy Swiat 4, Kalisz 62-800, Poland
| | - Witold A. Zatoński
- Institute – European Observatory of Health Inequalities, Calisia University, Nowy Swiat 4, Kalisz 62-800, Poland
- Health Promotion Foundation, Mszczonowska 51, Nadarzyn 05-830, Poland
| | - Ingrida Zurlytė
- WHO Country Office Lithuania, A. Jakšto g. 12, LT-01105 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Mindaugas Štelemėkas
- Faculty of Public Health, Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
- Faculty of Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilzes Str. 18, Kaunas 47181, Lithuania
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