Taupo joins action on alcohol

Professor Doug Sellman delivered a challenging and informative lecture at the Suncourt Conference Centre in Taupo on Tuesday night on the topic “Ten things the alcohol industry won’t tell you about alcohol”.

 

Professor Sellman described a national alcohol crisis of heavy drinking, stating that there were at least 700,000 people classified as ‘heavy drinkers’ in New Zealanders, of which 150,000 were classified as ‘alcohol dependent’. “700,000 equates to the total population of Wellington and Christchurch combined” said Professor Sellman.

 

The meeting was attended by an enthusiastic cross-section of the Taupo community and is part of a series of over 40 similar meetings being held across New Zealand at the current time. The timing of these lectures coincides with the Law Commission’s public consultation meetings around the document “Alcohol in our Lives”.

 

Professor Sellman is part of a team of medical experts who through these meetings is launching ‘Alcohol Action NZ’ and promoting a ‘5+ Solution’ based on the best international alcohol and public health evidence.

 

The ‘5+ Solution’ outlines practical steps that health professionals in New Zealand now agree must be taken if we are to measurably reduce the human carnage our heavy drinking culture currently inflicts. It challenges the Alcohol Industry to take more responsibility for the way they aggressively target young people while hiding behind claims that problem drinking is purely the responsibility of the individual.

 

“This [alcohol] industry spends $200,000 per day in NZ on advertising and sponsorship to saturate our lives with their message and despite their claims to the contrary they have our young people firmly in their sights,” said Professor Sellman.

 

The meeting was hosted by Deputy Mayor Christine McElwee who welcomed Professor Sellman to the district and outlined how alcohol is causing considerable harm in the Taupo district.

 

For more info visit www.alcoholaction.co.nz