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The publication of the 10 Year Health Plan for England last summer was set to be an important moment for our nation’s health and the future of our NHS. Yet when it was released, the Plan was missing an anticipated policy on alcohol marketing restrictions, a key World Health Organization (WHO)-backed way to reduce harm.
A new Institute of Alcohol Studies report provides clear evidence of a coordinated alcohol industry lobbying campaign to drop the policy from the 10 Year Health Plan. Based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the report details how, just a week before the Plan was published, major alcohol companies and trade groups put pressure on the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about marketing restrictions.
Not only did companies and trade groups directly approach the Health Secretary about the policy, they also urged the Chancellor and Business Secretary to intervene with DHSC on their behalf. The study reveals how letters and emails from alcohol industry representatives made misleading claims about evidence and exaggerated economic threats about the impact of restricting marketing.
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Marketing restrictions are backed by decades of international evidence and should be an uncontroversial way to protect children, young people, and the broader public from harm. Several countries, including France, Norway and, more recently, Ireland, restrict alcohol marketing in some way.
Yet in the UK we do not restrict marketing and largely rely on the alcohol industry to regulate itself in this area. This system is clearly not working, particularly in a digital context, where one third of children and young people report being shown alcohol-related content from businesses and influencers online. However, marketing restrictions are clearly not in the interest of alcohol industry giants.
The IAS report also reveals that alcohol companies and trade groups insisted on being involved in developing health policy and claimed to care about public health and reducing health inequalities. This is despite the clear conflict of interest between a public health approach to alcohol, which means reducing consumption, and the alcohol industry’s goal to sell more product and maximise returns for shareholders.
At a time of shocking levels of alcohol harm, it is deeply troubling that the alcohol industry was able to exert this kind of influence on a flagship NHS policy. It also departs from the needs of the public. Unfortunately, our communities will pay the price.