Contrasting responses to doctors’ advice about alcohol on either side of the Channel
The UK Parliamentary Health Select Committee recently stated : "It is
time the Government listened more to the Chief Medical Officer and the
President of the Royal College of Physicians and less to the drinks and
retail industry.”(1) In June 2009, French MPs voted in a new law
‘Hospital, patients, health and territories’, supposedly a major reform of
the healthcare system but one that allows advertising for alcohol on the
internet: a) disregarding public polls that indicate that 8 out of 10
French citizens oppose such a measure (2); b) nearly nullifying ‘Evin’s
law’ which has limited alcohol advertising since 1991 (drinks >1.2%
alcohol by volume).(3) Exposure to commercials for alcoholic beverages
increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to drink alcohol and
will increase drinking among baseline drinkers.(4) Naturally, this is the
reason the drinks industry spends so much on advertising.
The authors are looking for a position to practice in the UK as GD
(recipient of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Knowledge for the World
Award) (5) was sued in autumn 2009 by the Tobacconist union for claiming
on TV that cigarettes kill ten of thousands people a year in France, and
AB too has recently been fired from the university hospital of Amiens. In
France today there is no place for integrity (6) and whistleblowers are
not protected.
1 Wise J. MPs criticise government for ignoring doctors’ advice on
alcohol. BMJ 2010;340:c136
2 Braillon A, Dubois G. Public health, politicians' decisions, and the
citizen. Health Policy 2009; 93:225.
3 Braillon A, Dubois G. Web-based intervention and alcohol: who is upside
down?
Alcohol Alcoho 2010 ;45:103
4 Anderson P, de Bruijn A, Angus K et al. Impact of alcohol advertising
and media exposure on adolescent alcohol use: a systemic review of
longitudinal studies. Alcohol Alcohol 2009 44:229–43.
6 Braillon A, Dubois G, Zielinski O. Screening for prostate cancer: a
public campaign, evidence-based-medicine and conflicting interests. Eur J
Public Health. 2009;19:222
Rapid Response:
Contrasting responses to doctors’ advice about alcohol on either side of the Channel
The UK Parliamentary Health Select Committee recently stated : "It is
time the Government listened more to the Chief Medical Officer and the
President of the Royal College of Physicians and less to the drinks and
retail industry.”(1) In June 2009, French MPs voted in a new law
‘Hospital, patients, health and territories’, supposedly a major reform of
the healthcare system but one that allows advertising for alcohol on the
internet: a) disregarding public polls that indicate that 8 out of 10
French citizens oppose such a measure (2); b) nearly nullifying ‘Evin’s
law’ which has limited alcohol advertising since 1991 (drinks >1.2%
alcohol by volume).(3) Exposure to commercials for alcoholic beverages
increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to drink alcohol and
will increase drinking among baseline drinkers.(4) Naturally, this is the
reason the drinks industry spends so much on advertising.
The authors are looking for a position to practice in the UK as GD
(recipient of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Knowledge for the World
Award) (5) was sued in autumn 2009 by the Tobacconist union for claiming
on TV that cigarettes kill ten of thousands people a year in France, and
AB too has recently been fired from the university hospital of Amiens. In
France today there is no place for integrity (6) and whistleblowers are
not protected.
1 Wise J. MPs criticise government for ignoring doctors’ advice on
alcohol. BMJ 2010;340:c136
2 Braillon A, Dubois G. Public health, politicians' decisions, and the
citizen. Health Policy 2009; 93:225.
3 Braillon A, Dubois G. Web-based intervention and alcohol: who is upside
down?
Alcohol Alcoho 2010 ;45:103
4 Anderson P, de Bruijn A, Angus K et al. Impact of alcohol advertising
and media exposure on adolescent alcohol use: a systemic review of
longitudinal studies. Alcohol Alcohol 2009 44:229–43.
5 http://www.jhu.edu/jhumag/0608web/alumnews.html
6 Braillon A, Dubois G, Zielinski O. Screening for prostate cancer: a
public campaign, evidence-based-medicine and conflicting interests. Eur J
Public Health. 2009;19:222
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests