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WEDNESDAY, 5 MAY 2004
SEMINAR AT THE HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT
sponsored by Caroline Spelman MP, on
ALCOHOL AND WOMEN:
USE AND MISUSE
Speakers:
Ross Cranston QC MP, Chairman of the
Parliamentary All-Party Group on Alcohol Misuse
Geethika Jayatilaka, Director of Policy
& Public Affairs, Alcohol Concern
Dr Annabelle Bundle, on foetal alcohol
syndrome
UPDATE ON ALCOHOLISM
January 2005
A note from Marie Birkenhead - a Past President
Since our successful seminar on the misuse of alcohol in May 2004, there
has been almost constant publicity on this matter. Members may be
interested to know that a debate was held in the House of Lords in October
2004, on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, a disability that was highlighted in our
seminar. The debate was introduced by Lord Mitchell, who said that the
syndrome was estimated to affect between one and three in every 1000 live
births. Lord Mitchell asked why so little was being done to address this issue and suggested two principal reasons. ‘The first is that the Government is not convinced of the scale of the problem.
The second is that they do not believe that they need to take any further
action to alert young women to the dangers.’
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UPDATE ON ALCOHOLISM (continued)
Lord Mitchell wants the Government to introduce labelling on alcoholic
drinks to warn pregnant women of the dangers to an unborn child.
Apparently, this is already done in many countries.
More recently, in December, a European survey was published which had been carried out in 35 countries. The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs interviewed over 2000 15-16 year olds in this country. The survey
concluded:
1. Britain’s teenagers are among the heaviest drinkers in Europe. Poor parenting was given
as one reason for this. Research has shown that parents in France and Italy were far more
likely to know where their teenagers are in their spare time – 71% compared to 49% in the UK.
2. For the first time the number of teenage girls bingeing on alcohol is greater than that of boys. The lead author from the survey, Professor Plant, addressing an international conference on binge drinking said:
‘There is clearly a profound social change going on. We have not seen this kind of increasing trend among women in opposition to men, ever. What we now have is a different underlying trend for young women that has come on in the last six years’. He said that the Government must do more to address Britain’s drinking culture.
Many members will remember the NCW first brought this matter to the attention of Government
with our resolution in 1980.
We must soldier on!
The research done by branches on the misuse abuse of alcohol will be included in Hilary Sillars ‘Quality of Life’
project publication. |
