tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/drinkwise-3485/articlesDrinkWise – The Conversation2018-08-31T02:29:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1024062018-08-31T02:29:10Z2018-08-31T02:29:10ZRevised DrinkWise posters use clumsy language to dampen alcohol warnings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234368/original/file-20180831-195301-iwsfgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is evidence drinking alcohol during pregnancy can harm the developing foetus.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>DrinkWise Australia has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/utterly-wrong-what-happens-when-the-alcohol-industry-makes-pregnancy-warning-posters-20180827-p50022.html">withdrawn thousands of posters</a> designed to inform women about the risks of drinking during pregnancy. </p>
<p>DrinkWise – which has previously <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.12416">drawn criticism</a> for its alignment with the alcohol industry – distributed the posters to hospitals and GP clinics. The posters were pulled after the Australian Medical Association raised concerns that the text included misleading and inaccurate information.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drinkwises-cynical-campaign-shouldnt-fool-anyone-23813">DrinkWise's cynical campaign shouldn't fool anyone</a>
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<p>The headline of the poster states “It’s safest not to drink while pregnant.” The following message was printed underneath: </p>
<p><em>It’s not known if alcohol is safe to drink when you are pregnant. What is known is that the risk of damage to your baby increases the more you drink and binge drinking is particularly harmful.</em></p>
<p><em>The safest option for women is to abstain from drinking if they are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.</em></p>
<p>The problem lies in the first sentence, which claims it’s “not known” whether it is safe to drink while pregnant. This claim is misleading. There is clear evidence that drinking during pregnancy can <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-foetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorders-9871">harm the developing foetus</a>. </p>
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<p>There is less evidence on the risks of drinking small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy, but even here the limited available evidence arguably suggests that <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-risks-of-light-drinking-in-pregnancy-confirms-that-abstention-is-the-safest-approach-83753">abstaining is the safest option</a>.</p>
<p>DrinkWise responded to the complaints by replacing the posters with an updated version. The new posters remove the original text and add the following sentence:</p>
<p><em>A very important choice you can make for the health of your baby is to abstain from alcohol while pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.</em></p>
<p>This change removes the misleading information. But how effectively does it communicate the risks of drinking during pregnancy?</p>
<h2>Why language matters</h2>
<p>How we write can have a dramatic impact on how, and whether, our message is understood. The same facts, presented in different ways, can have a profoundly different impact. </p>
<p>We can even nudge people towards making certain choices by framing information in particular ways. This is a technique already used by governments to encourage the public to <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-you-be-nudged-into-better-health-without-you-even-knowing-84601">make healthier choices</a> and by corporations to <a href="https://theconversation.com/sludge-how-corporations-nudge-us-into-spending-more-101969">encourage consumers to spend more money</a>. </p>
<p>The language we use is therefore practically and ethically important, especially when public health is at stake. We should pay attention both to what is said and to how it’s expressed.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-what-are-the-risks-of-drinking-before-you-know-youre-pregnant-59603">Health Check: what are the risks of drinking before you know you're pregnant?</a>
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<p>The DrinkWise posters are designed to highlight the risks of drinking during pregnancy. To do so effectively, the message presumably needs to be clear and direct. How well do the replacement posters meet this goal?</p>
<p>Not very well. The revised text has several features that muddy the message.</p>
<p>The poster explains that “a very important choice you can make for the health of your baby is to abstain from alcohol while pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.” This is a strikingly graceless sentence. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style:_Lessons_in_Clarity_and_Grace">time-honoured rule</a> for clear writing recommends keeping the grammatical subject short. This is because sentences are easier to follow when the subject leads quickly to the verb. The revised text begins with a grammatical subject that’s an ungainly 13 words long (“A very important choice you can make for the health of your baby…”) Exactly what this refers to (“…abstaining from alcohol…”) trails afterwards.</p>
<p>Structuring the sentence in this way has some interesting effects. The text does not actively recommend abstaining from alcohol, nor does it directly claim it is important to do so. Instead, the option of abstaining from alcohol is positioned as an “important choice” that women can make. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/health-risks-of-light-drinking-in-pregnancy-confirms-that-abstention-is-the-safest-approach-83753">Health risks of light drinking in pregnancy confirms that abstention is the safest approach</a>
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<p>The text also avoids claiming that drinking during pregnancy can cause harm. Instead, abstaining from alcohol is framed, obscurely, as a choice you might make “for the health of your baby”.</p>
<p>The poster’s headline does state it’s safest not to drink while pregnant. However, even this comparatively explicit message says nothing about the nature or magnitude of the possible risks.</p>
<p>Women are already required to negotiate a range of <a href="https://croakey.org/alcohol-and-pregnancy-mixed-messages-undermining-abstinence-advice/">contradictory information and advice</a> about the risks of drinking while pregnant. The awkward wording of the DrinkWise poster is more problematic than just weak copywriting. It undermines the public health message the poster is intended to convey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Koplin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The DrinkWise posters are designed to highlight the risks of drinking during pregnancy. To do so effectively, the message needs to be clear and direct.Julian Koplin, Resarch Fellow in Biomedical Ethics, Melbourne Law School and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/674542016-10-24T22:33:52Z2016-10-24T22:33:52ZWomen’s alcohol consumption catching up to men: why this matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142989/original/image-20161024-28380-wrtsvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alcohol use is traditionally higher among men than women but new evidence suggests this is changing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women are catching up to men in rates of alcohol consumption and this has important implications for how we think about our community response to harmful alcohol use.</p>
<p>Historically, men have been more likely to drink alcohol than women and to drink in quantities that damage their health. However, evidence points to a significant shift in the drinking landscape with <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871607003559">rates of alcohol use appearing to converge</a> among men and women born more recently. In a bid to quantify this trend, <a href="http://bmjopen.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011827">we pooled data</a> from 68 studies in 36 countries with a total sample size of over four million men and women.</p>
<p>All of the studies we looked at reported data on both men’s and women’s drinking across at least two time periods. Some data were available from men and women born in the early 1900s, other data from men and women born in the late 1900s, but each data point represented the ratio of men’s to women’s alcohol use for those born within a specific five-year time window. Taken together we were able to map ratios across the entire period from as early as 1891 right up to the year 2000 and everything in between. </p>
<p>We grouped data according to three broad definitions: any alcohol use (in other words being a drinker or not), problematic alcohol use (binge or heavy episodic drinking) and alcohol-related harms (negative consequences as a result of drinking such as accidents or injuries or a diagnosis of an alcohol use disorder).</p>
<p>What we found was that the gap between the sexes has narrowed over time. Among cohorts born in the early 1900s men were just over two times more likely than women to drink, three times more likely to drink in ways suggesting problematic alcohol use and three-and-a-half times more likely to experience alcohol-related harms. </p>
<p>Among those born in the late 1900s these ratios had decreased to almost one. This means that by the end of the last century men’s and women’s drinking had almost reached parity.</p>
<p>We did not seek to quantify by how much alcohol use is falling among men and/or increasing among women. However, of the 42 studies that showed converging alcohol use, most reported this was driven by increases in the rates of female drinking. </p>
<p>A small proportion (5%) of the individual sex ratios was less than one, the majority of which came from cohorts born after 1981. This suggests women born after this time may, in fact, be drinking at <em>higher</em> rates and in <em>more</em> harmful ways than their male counterparts. </p>
<h2>What’s changed in the last 100 years?</h2>
<p>We don’t have a definitive answer to what has driven the rise in alcohol consumption among women but in many countries around the world we have seen substantial developments in broader social, cultural and economic factors for women and increasingly accepting societal norms around female drinking. </p>
<p>It is likely <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2147/SAR.S21343">sex differences in alcohol use are linked</a>, probably in complex ways, to these societal changes. Most people would argue these changes have been positive. However, increased exposure to alcohol for women also means increased exposure to the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871615016166">physical and mental health risks associated</a> with drinking too much.</p>
<p>Regardless of the reasons behind these changes, it’s clear alcohol use and associated problems are not problems that only affect men. </p>
<p>This matters because often the focus in the media and public debate is on young men and alcohol. It matters because universal prevention can be an effective strategy to reduce harmful alcohol use among women. It matters because, while women seek treatment for almost every other physical and mental health problem at higher rates than men, women who experience problems related to alcohol generally don’t seek treatment. </p>
<p>The sooner we structure our education campaigns as well as our prevention, early intervention and treatment programs around this notion, the better our community response to harmful alcohol use will be. </p>
<p>We need to ensure education campaigns addressing the harms of alcohol use are <a href="http://www.positivechoices.org.au">designed to appeal to both men and women</a>. We need to target adolescents before drinking patterns are entrenched and deliver high quality, evidence-based <a href="http://anp.sagepub.com/content/50/1/64.abstract">universal prevention and early intervention programs</a>. We need to reduce the structural barriers (such as cost and location) as well as negative attitudes that get in the way of women <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871614019735">seeking treatment for alcohol problems</a>. </p>
<p>Many of the men and women who are contributing to these changing drinking patterns are only now in their 20s or 30s. We need to keep tracking population trends in drinking as these cohorts age into their 40s, 50s and beyond. We need to keep asking the question: how can we do better to prevent alcohol related harms?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Slade receives funding from the NHMRC, the ARC and the Australian government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cath Chapman receives funding from the NHMRC and the Australian government.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maree Teesson is a director of CLIMATESchools Pty Ltd. An Australian company that distributes evidence based educational materials to schools. She receives funding from the NHMRC, the Australian government and the NSW government.</span></em></p>Women are catching up to men in rates of alcohol consumption and this has important implications for how we think about our community response to harmful alcohol use.Tim Slade, Associate Professor, UNSW SydneyCath Chapman, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyMaree Teesson, Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/238132014-02-28T05:41:29Z2014-02-28T05:41:29ZDrinkWise’s cynical campaign shouldn’t fool anyone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42727/original/vxj4f4xr-1393563770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A screen shot of the web page dedicated to DrinkWise's How to Drink Properly ad campaign. </span> </figcaption></figure><p>Alcohol industry-funded organisation <a href="http://www.drinkwise.org.au/">DrinkWise</a> has released a new advertising campaign titled <a href="http://howtodrinkproperly.com/">Drinking – Do it properly</a> that will supposedly reduce the harmful effects of binge drinking among young Australians. Rather, these slick ads will encourage young people to drink.</p>
<p>The advertisement was produced by <a href="http://www.clemenger.com.au/">Clemenger BDDO</a>, which describes itself as “Australasia’s largest, most successful marketing communications company”. </p>
<p>The architects of the campaign claim the ads target young adults who don’t respond to current methods of reducing alcohol harm. It involves a social media campaign, with a <a href="http://howtodrinkproperly.com/">dedicated website</a> featuring a range of videos, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnoXi4-8WY">How to drink properly</a> which has, according to DrinkWise, had 600,000 hits so far.</p>
<p>The videos are well designed, with slick and attractive animation. The odd expletive is clearly intended to appeal to its young target audience. Instead of reducing binge drinking, this campaign will encourage young people to drink. </p>
<p>It is, after all, a positive message about alcohol consumption. To do something “properly” is to give it a red hot go or to not do it half-arsed.</p>
<p>The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB), which <a href="http://www.adstandards.com.au/advertisingstandards/codesweadminister/">administers national advertising codes</a> for alcohol (and other) products, prohibits any promotion that suggests using alcohol will lead to sexual success, or make you more wealthy and attractive. The current campaign arguably breaches the code on both grounds.</p>
<p>The ad employs a debonair James Bond-like figure, whose drinking clearly makes him more attractive to the opposite sex. There are numerous cues to drink (“do it”), including the iconic image of a unicorn used in an advertisement for Pure Blonde (also produced by Clemenger BDDO) that was the subject of a notorious <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/best-ad-complaint-ever-pure-blonde-cleared-of-cruelty-to-mythical-winged-horses-38935">ABS complaint</a>.</p>
<p>It will be up to the ASB to decide whether this ad contravenes the code when a complaint is lodged, as seems likely given the <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/drinkwise-mike-daube-clemenger-melbourne-binge-drinking-209951?utm_source=DailyNewsletter">strong criticism</a> it has received from leading public health professionals such as Mike Daube. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">DrinkWise’s Drinking – Do it properly advert.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Similar complaints against alcohol-related public service announcements have been lodged in the past. It’s interesting to consider how the ASB would view the ad if it had been produced by an alcohol company with the explicit aim of selling its product.</p>
<p>DrinkWise CEO, John Scott, claims the <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/drinkwise-mike-daube-clemenger-melbourne-binge-drinking-209951?utm_source=DailyNewsletter">campaign reflects an extensive research process</a>. We have no idea what research was conducted, what questions were asked, and what the researchers were trying to find out. </p>
<p>We only know that, according to Scott, “young people are receptive to the message”. But what is the message here? That drinking makes you attractive? Drinking is cool? </p>
<p>The ads state that drinking “too much” is uncool. But what constitutes too much is largely left to the judgement of the drinker. Although there’s the helpful suggestion that you’ve had too much when you vomit or fall over.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2006/185/11/assessing-wisdom-funding-drinkwise">One of us predicted</a> in 2006, when DrinkWise was established (with some public funding) that it would resolutely oppose public health polices shown to reduce binge drinking, such as taxation and restrictions on availability. </p>
<p>It was also predicted that DrinkWise would prefer high-profile media campaigns that would do little to discourage consumption in the face of the tsunami of alcohol promotion, while “expressing the industry’s concern” about the problem. </p>
<p>Like similar alcohol industry-funded social aspect organisations in the United States and the United Kingdom, DrinkWise has, again as predicted in the same journal article, <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2006/185/11/assessing-wisdom-funding-drinkwise">promoted policies that are</a> “apparently plausible and have a high media profile, but are likely to have little effect on problem alcohol use or alcohol-related problems”. </p>
<p>The current social media campaign <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2006/185/11/assessing-wisdom-funding-drinkwise">exemplifies the genre</a> with one variation. Drinking – Do it properly promotes drinking as a cool thing for young adults to do. This cynical campaign should be pulled down, and no further public money should be given to DrinkWise to run these sorts of ads.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23813/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Carter has received research council grants from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wayne Hall has received research council grants from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council and Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.</span></em></p>Alcohol industry-funded organisation DrinkWise has released a new advertising campaign titled Drinking – Do it properly that will supposedly reduce the harmful effects of binge drinking among young Australians…Adrian Carter, NHMRC Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandWayne Hall, Professor and Director, Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, The University of Queenslandd, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89662012-09-02T20:09:47Z2012-09-02T20:09:47ZWho should be educating us about alcohol-related violence?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14866/original/wch44373-1346382068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">High profile campaigns that don't reduce consumption or profits are favoured by industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexandre Chang</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a series of recent papers, our research team has documented the impact of community interventions at reducing alcohol-related harm in the Geelong region in Victoria. What we found was that despite the best of intentions, none of the interventions reduced emergency department attendances and one was associated with an increase.</p>
<p>Geelong has a long and proud tradition of trying to address alcohol-related harms in a collaborative and creative manner. Council, police, licensees and Deakin University researchers have worked together to reduce these harms in the community while ensuring young people have an enjoyable social life. </p>
<p>Geelong was one of the first cities in the world to implement a <a href="http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/brdaplan/cgroups/itemp/p60.aspx">liquor accord</a>. And, between 2006 and 2009, it trialled a number of innovative approaches based on cooperation. Current interventions include a taxi rank and a closed circuit television (CCTV) network that now operates in conjunction with a radio program that connects police to security staff in licensed venues, camera operators and fast-food venues. Identity scanners were also installed in every late night (open after 1am) licensed premises in the city.</p>
<h2>A new initiative</h2>
<p>In June 2008, with no involvement from the liquor accord or local <a href="http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/community/safety/">community safety committee</a>, the <a href="http://www.drinkwise.org.au/our-work/community-initiatives/just-think/">“Just Think” campaign</a> was launched by the local tabloid newspaper, the <a href="http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/">Geelong Advertiser</a>. Funded by the alcohol industry social aspect/public relations organisation (SAPRO) <a href="http://www.drinkwise.org.au/">DrinkWise</a>, the campaign used football stars to endorse this message: “We’re not saying don’t drink, we’re saying just think.” </p>
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<p>The campaign featured pictures of battered victims alongside football stars. These were sporadically implanted into the news cycle. The Just Think campaign was very popular with politicians, the media and many community stakeholders. It was adopted by the AFL and recommended by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. </p>
<p>It’s important to note that campaigns like this one have been a favoured vehicle for the tobacco, gambling and alcohol industries in the past; they have a high profile but don’t reduce consumption or profits.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>Our research project evaluated the impact of all the measures (individually and collectively) trying to tackle alcohol-related problems around licensed venues in Geelong. The findings published in the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21896077">Drug and Alcohol Review</a> and <a href="http://benthamscience.com/open/tocrij/articles/V005/8TOCRIJ.pdf">The Open Criminology Journal</a> demonstrated that community interventions in Geelong failed to have an impact on injury presentations to local hospitals or assaults reported to police through to mid-2009. </p>
<p>We found the radio network, identity scanners and CCTV were useful in the detection and solving of crimes. But the Just Think campaign was associated with significant increases in both assaults and injury presentations at the Geelong hospital emergency department. The increases occurred at the same time as the campaign. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14861/original/bvxjfpf8-1346380953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>The association doesn’t necessarily mean that the Just Think caused the increase in assaults but there are plausible reasons for why it may have.</p>
<h2>Violence and the campaign</h2>
<p>The Just Think campaign sensationalised alcohol-fuelled violence by putting photos of bloodied victims on the front page of newspapers, and labelling incidents with a Just Think badge if they may have involved alcohol. But the program provided no practical strategies to avoid aggression or defuse potentially violent situations. </p>
<p>Successful campaigns in violence prevention need to give practical strategies; over 30 years of research tells us weak awareness campaigns are popular but ineffective.</p>
<p>In the absence of any practical strategies, Just Think only raised awareness of violence. This may have produced increased apprehension about entering dangerous environments and increased readiness to resort to violence to avert retaliation. These are only potential mechanisms, but in the face of the data, they are plausible.</p>
<p>The increased rates of emergency attendances and assaults were disappointing news for the Geelong community, but the much greater concern is the subsequent failure to report our findings about Just Think.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/14859/original/yh2rvbpf-1346380941.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">malloreigh/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An unhealthy coalition?</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://www.webcitation.org/69ydghzYQ">recent Geelong Advertiser article</a> reported our research findings on assaults, but failed to mention the contribution of Just Think to the problem. Nor did the article report the money (an undisclosed amount) that the Geelong Advertiser received from DrinkWise. </p>
<p>Instead, the article noted, “The study said police and council initiatives implemented between 1991 and 2009 failed to reduce drunken assaults.” This omitted our findings regarding Just Think and implied the council and police had failed, as had the local licensees working with them.</p>
<p>The good news is that the implementation of more innovative and collaborative interventions may finally have had an impact on alcohol-related problems, which have now levelled off. But, this experience illustrates how unhealthy coalitions can form to advance commercial interests over the public good. </p>
<p>The public and government clearly need independent advice on what strategies are effective for combating social harms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8966/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Miller receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund and the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the journal Addiction, for which he receives travel funds and a stipend.</span></em></p>In a series of recent papers, our research team has documented the impact of community interventions at reducing alcohol-related harm in the Geelong region in Victoria. What we found was that despite the…Peter Miller, Principal Research Fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/38722012-08-01T20:33:54Z2012-08-01T20:33:54ZProtect researchers from the perils of public health advocacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13704/original/btr5x7x5-1343792508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The expense of defending defamation actions deters many public health researchers from speaking out.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emilio Kuffer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public health advocates who criticise industries for promoting harmful forms of consumption – the alcohol, food, pharmaceutical, tobacco and gambling industries – increasingly find themselves facing legal action for defamation or other forms of legal harassment.</p>
<p>In 2009, Peter Miller and 50 colleagues (including myself) published a <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2009/190/12/health-experts-reject-industry-backed-funding-alcohol-research">letter in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA)</a> stating that we would not accept research funding from the organisation Drinkwise, because we believed that the alcohol industry had undue influence over its research agenda. </p>
<p>Drinkwise was established by the alcohol industry and part funded by the Howard government to educate Australians to “drink wisely”. Many in the public health field were sceptical of its intentions because half of its board came from the alcohol industry and several of the community representatives on the board had worked for or with the alcohol industry.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13606/original/66vrbv8q-1343623961.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The alcohol industry has a much bigger budget than most researchers and universities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Josh Staiger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the MJA gave the chair of the Drinkwise board the right of reply, signatories received a personal letter stating that Drinkwise Board members felt they had been “defamed” by the letter. No legal action was forthcoming but the letter was taken as a <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/08/13/another-reason-for-concern-about-public-funding-for-drinkwise/">warning that we could be sued</a> if they continued to criticise Drinkwise.</p>
<p>This kind of threat is not uncommon. The Melbourne public health physician Ken Harvey has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/sensaslim-and-me-how-criticism-of-a-weight-loss-spray-landed-me-in-court-1911">sued for damages</a> by two companies for making a formal complaint to the <a href="http://www.tga.gov.au/">Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)</a> in which he said that that there was no evidence to support the health claims made for their products.</p>
<p>Neither are these are isolated events. I know colleagues who have received threats of legal action for defamation from industry advocacy groups and “independent” consultants who work for these industries. In another case, senior alcohol industry officials wrote to the vice chancellor of a researcher’s university attacking his personal integrity and professionalism.</p>
<p>It’s easy to say that researchers should refuse to bow to these attempts at intimidation. Unfortunately, it can be expensive to defend defamation actions brought by litigants with deep pockets. Nor can researchers depend on universities to provide legal defence in these cases. </p>
<p>While universities encourage “community engagement” by their staff, they don’t always provide legal assistance to deal with threats arising from public comment. I discovered this two decades ago when threatened with a suit for defamation for comments made on the ABC about the regulation of psychologists. The university’s lawyers declined to represent me because I was not speaking in “an official university capacity”, even though I was commenting on a matter of public importance within my area of expertise.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13607/original/j4t9hspw-1343624079.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universities don’t always provide researchers with legal assistance to deal with threats arising from public comment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeff Pearce</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These issues should be of concern to lawyers. Defamation specialists could provide pro bono legal advice to researchers threatened in these ways. Public advocacy lawyers could examine the extent to which these threats occur and consider ways to combat the use of defamation and other laws by vested interests to silence public debate. </p>
<p>Legal remedies worth exploring include laws such as the <a href="http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/2008-48/20080912-37699/pdf/2008-48.pdf">one passed by the ACT parliament</a> in 2008 imposing civil penalties on companies that attempt to use lawsuits to stop individuals and groups from voicing their opinions. Such laws may include actions, where possible, to seek <a href="http://www.pilch.org.au/accesstojustice/publicinterestlitigation/">protective cost orders</a>. </p>
<p>Free public discussion is essential for good public health policy. Public debate is already heavily weighted against public health interests by the greater access that wealthy alcohol, pharmaceutical and complementary medicine industries have to advertising, and utilise the mass media and specialist legal advice. We need to prevent threats of legal action from being used to silence public health advocates and strangle public policy debate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/3872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wayne Hall receives funding from the NHMRC. He has previously received funds from the AREF (now the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education).</span></em></p>Public health advocates who criticise industries for promoting harmful forms of consumption – the alcohol, food, pharmaceutical, tobacco and gambling industries – increasingly find themselves facing legal…Wayne Hall, Professor & Deputy Director (Policy) UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.