Research agendas for alcohol policymaking in the wider world
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Date
2022
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol
Abstract
Description
From comparisons of World Health Organization statistics, it is clear that people in lower-and middle-income countries (LMICs)
experience more harms per litre of alcohol and different types of harms compared to those from higher-income countries (HICs).
Yet studies in HICs dominate research on policies to prevent alcohol problems. The paper begins a dialogue on priorities for
research in the wider world, particularly in LMICs. It reports on results of collaborative work among a group of academics to map
priority areas for research relevant to LMIC. Research focus areas were identified and discussed among potential co-authors from
diverse fields with relevant knowledge, with agreement reached on an initial list of seven research priority areas. Areas identified
include: (1) the effects of choices (e.g., national vs. local, monopoly vs. licensing system) in organising the alcohol market; (2)
involvement/separation of alcohol industry interests in decisions on public health regulation; (3) options and effectiveness of global
agreements on alcohol governance; (4) choices and experience in controlling unrecorded alcohol; (5) means of decreasing harm
from men’s drinking to family members; (6) strategies for reducing the effects of poverty on drinking’s role in harms; and (7)
measuring and addressing key alcohol-induced LMIC health harms: infectious diseases, injuries, and digestive diseases. Potential
paths ahead for such research are briefly outlined and engagement in agenda setting from a wider group of stakeholders is sought.