About smoke and mirrors: the alcohol industry and the promotion of science

Alcohol industry involvement in science: A systematic review of the perspectives of the alcohol research community

ISSUES

Alcohol companies have recently invested large sums of money in answering research questions to which they have clear vested interests in the outcomes. There have been extensive concerns about corporate influence on public health sciences, following the experience with the tobacco industry.

APPROACH

This systematic review aims to investigate the perspectives of researchers on the activities of alcohol industry actors in relation to science, in order to guide future research. All data published in peer-reviewed journals (including commentaries, opinion pieces, editorials and letters as well as research reports) were eligible for inclusion. This analysis focuses on the manifest rather than latent content of the articulated views, and accordingly adopts a thematic analysis using an inductive approach to the generation of themes.

KEY FINDINGS

There are serious concerns identified in three main areas, principally defined by where the impacts of industry scientific activities occur; on evidence informed policy making (instrumental uses of research by industry actors), on the content of the scientific evidence base itself (industry funding as a source of bias); and on the processes of undertaking research (transgressions of basic scientific norms). There are also opposing views which provide a useful critique. The evidence-base on the validity of all concerns has been slow to develop.

IMPLICATIONS

The concerns are extensive, longstanding and unresolved and high quality investigations are needed.

CONCLUSION

This study informs the detailed content of the research needed to address the concerns identified here.

Evaluation of the Evidence Base for the Alcohol Industry's Actions to Reduce Drink Driving Globally

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the evidence base for the content of initiatives that the alcohol industry implemented to reduce drink driving from 1982 to May 2015.

METHODS

We systematically analyzed the content of 266 global initiatives that the alcohol industry has categorized as actions to reduce drink driving.

RESULTS

Social aspects public relations organizations (i.e., organizations funded by the alcohol industry to handle issues that may be damaging to the business) sponsored the greatest proportion of the actions. Only 0.8% (n = 2) of the sampled industry actions were consistent with public health evidence of effectiveness for reducing drink driving.

CONCLUSIONS

The vast majority of the alcohol industry's actions to reduce drink driving does not reflect public health evidenced-based recommendations, even though effective drink-driving countermeasures exist, such as a maximum blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05 grams per deciliter for drivers and widespread use of sobriety checkpoints.

Multinational Alcohol Market Development and Public Health: Diageo in India

Alcohol is a risk factor for communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and alcohol consumption is rising steadily in India. The growth of multinational alcohol corporations, such as Diageo, contributes to India's changing alcohol environment. We provide a brief history of India's alcohol regulation for context and examine Diageo's strategies for expansion in India in 2013 and 2014. Diageo is attracted to India's younger generation, women, and emerging middle class for growth opportunities. Components of Diageo's responsibility strategy conflict with evidence-based public health recommendations for reducing harmful alcohol consumption. Diageo's strategies for achieving market dominance in India are at odds with public health evidence. We conclude with recommendations for protecting public health in emerging markets.

Vested interests in addiction research and policy. Alcohol industry use of social aspect public relations organizations against preventative health measures

AIM

It has been proposed that alcohol industry 'social aspects/public relations' organizations (SAPROs) serve the agenda of lending credibility to industry claims of corporate responsibility while promoting ineffective industry-friendly interventions (such as school-based education or TV advertising campaigns) and creating doubt about interventions which have a strong evidence base (such as higher taxes on alcoholic beverages). This paper investigated whether submissions to Australia's National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) from alcohol industry bodies regarding the Australian SAPRO, Drinkwise, have used this organization to demonstrate corporate responsibility while promoting industry-friendly interventions.

METHOD

Submissions to the Australian National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) discussion paper Australia, the healthiest country by 2020 (n = 375) were examined to identify those with primary alcohol content. A thematic analysis of the resulting 33 submissions was conducted to determine which organization, institution or individual discussed Drinkwise.

SETTING

Australia.

FINDINGS

Nine of the 33 submissions discussed Drinkwise; all were submitted by the alcohol industry or its affiliates. Every industry submission referred to Drinkwise either as providing evidence of social responsibility or by suggesting the industry-friendly actions of Drinkwise as alternatives to those recommended by the NPHT report.

CONCLUSIONS

Drinkwise has been used by the alcohol industry to create an impression of social responsibility while promoting interventions that maintain profits and campaigning against effective interventions such as higher taxes on alcohol.

Science and alcohol policy: a case study of the EU Strategy on Alcohol

AIMS

To describe the extent to which the content of the European Commission's Communication on alcohol reflects public health-based scientific evidence.

DESIGN

Document retrieval and content analysis.

SETTING

European Union.

PARTICIPANTS

Background documents leading up to the European Commission's Communication on alcohol, the Communication itself and implementation actions following the Communication.

MEASUREMENTS

Documents were read and analyzed for evidence-based alcohol policy content.

FINDINGS

Although the Communication acknowledges and supports existing interventions which have high evidence for effectiveness, such as enforcing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers, it extensively promotes other interventions which have been shown to be ineffective; for example, recommending education and persuasion strategies as a measure across all its five priority areas. Measures to influence price are mentioned only once in relation to sales in drinking venues limiting two-for-one drinks offers. Measures to control physical availability are mentioned infrequently.

CONCLUSIONS

The Communication reflects the science, in that it acknowledges the significance of alcohol as a social and health determinant in Europe. However, it places more emphasis on policy actions with less evidence for effectiveness than on those with strong evidence. It also focuses its efforts more on mapping member state actions and coordinating knowledge exchange than on providing concrete recommendations for action or developing Europe-wide policy measures. This may be a compromise between the rights of Member States to develop national policy and legislation and the obligation of the European Union as a collaborative body to protect health. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the European Union's roots as a trading block emphasizes collaboration with industry stakeholders and this influences the ability to prioritize health over trade considerations.

Vested interests in addiction research and policy alcohol policies out of context: drinks industry supplanting government role in alcohol policies in sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND

In this paper, we describe an analysis of alcohol policy initiatives sponsored by alcohol producer SABMiller and the International Center on Alcohol Policies, an alcohol industry-funded organization. In a number of sub-Saharan countries these bodies have promoted a 'partnership' role with governments to design national alcohol policies.

METHODOLOGY

A comparison was conducted of four draft National Alcohol Policy documents from Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda and Botswana using case study methods.

FINDINGS

The comparison indicated that the four drafts are almost identical in wording and structure and that they are likely to originate from the same source.

CONCLUSIONS

The processes and the draft policy documents reviewed provide insights into the methods, as well as the strategic and political objectives of the multi-national drinks industry. This initiative reflects the industry's preferred version of a national alcohol policy. The industry policy vision ignores, or chooses selectively from, the international evidence base on alcohol prevention developed by independent alcohol researchers and disregards or minimizes a public health approach to alcohol problems. The policies reviewed maintain a narrow focus on the economic benefits from the trade in alcohol. In terms of alcohol problems (and their remediation) the documents focus upon individual drinkers, ignoring effective environmental interventions. The proposed policies serve the industry's interests at the expense of public health by attempting to enshrine 'active participation of all levels of the beverage alcohol industry as a key partner in the policy formulation and implementation process'.