Pressured by the Elysee Palace, the alcohol lobby presented on Wednesday June 27 its “contribution” to the plan to combat alcoholism.
“This is a great first”, welcomes the wine lobby. Under pressure by the Elysee, alcohol producers and traders presented on Wednesday June 27 to Emmanuel Macron’s Health and Agriculture advisers their “contribution” to the plan to fight alcoholism. The latter is part of the national public health plan carried by the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn. Among the 30 measures proposed, most have in their sights the culture of “binge drinking” (“express biture”) very common among young people and fetal alcoholism which affects 700 to 1000 births per year.
Thus, the lobby suggests, for example, doubling the current size of the logo signaling the ban on alcohol to pregnant women on all bottle labels. Other ideas put forward: training for alcohol sellers in order to better enforce the ban on sales to minors, or even to promote the distribution of “wine-bags” in restaurants so that customers can take their bottles to their home. them instead of finishing it on the job.
“Prevention is not health, we are not going to replace Health actions, but we are going to communicate on the risks of alcohol and responsible consumption”, in wine merchants, in supermarkets , restaurants and trade, explains Joel Forgeau, president of Vin et Société, the organization representing the wine lobby, the second largest export position behind aeronautics. “The wine sector will invest 500,000 euros per year for four years on training and prevention actions, and the two other sectors (spirits and brewery) will spend together 700,000 euros per year”, or a total of 4.8 million euros over four years, he explains.
49,000 deaths every year in France
Because alcohol dependence is a real problem in France. “It affects 2.9% of the population, while according to the World Health Organization (WHO) it affects only 0.5% of the population in Italy and 0.7% in Spain which are also large wine producers “, admits Joël Forgeau. “These two countries have for years put in place prevention programs built with the supply chains of producers. We prefer to be inspired by their model rather than that of the countries of northern Europe which use fiscal weapons and rhetoric. excessive moralizing “, he explains, explaining that these methods” do not work “.
This commitment by professionals in the sector could be explained by the fear of an increase in alcohol prices, as has already been the case for tobacco. “We were waiting for a real plan to prevent and fight against the effects of alcohol in France (minimum price, tax, etc.)”, lamented Doctor Amine Benyamina, addictologist psychiatrist and president of the French Addictology Federation ( FFA) following these announcements. On the home page of his site, the FFA recalls that alcohol kills more every year in France than firearms in the United States: 49,000 deaths against 33,000.
According to Inserm, 10% of French people are dependent on alcohol and alcohol is also the second leading cause of premature death in France. “In 2009, 49,000 deaths were attributable to alcohol in France, including 22% of deaths of 15-34 year olds, 18% of deaths of 35-64 year olds and 7% of deaths after 65 years. cancer (15,000 deaths), cardiovascular diseases (12,000 deaths), digestive diseases (8,000 deaths due to cirrhosis) and accidents and suicides (8,000 deaths). The other deaths were related to other diseases including mental disorders linked to alcohol “, Inserm notes on its website, recalling that “the social consequences of excessive alcohol consumption are also heavy”.
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