It’s time to find a national solution

Yesterday four presidents of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), led by National President Steve Hambleton, came together in Sydney to call for national action on alcohol-related harms. They explained alcohol-related harms are more than king hits in Kings Cross. The impact of alcohol misuse affects all communities, all across the country. That’s why we need a National Summit – to come up with solutions on a whole of government level. So we can deal with our alcohol problem as a nation.

You’d probably recognise Professor Brian Owler from the Don’t Rush NSW road safety ads on TV. Speaking at the AMA press conference yesterday he explained what alcohol-related harms really look like:

“We see the glassing’s. We see the fractured jaws. We see multiple other injuries. But it’s not just about the violence that happens out on the streets of Sydney or our other capital cities, it’s actually about how alcohol-related violence comes into our own homes. We see almost as many cases of domestic violence where alcohol is a strong factor. And as heart breaking as it is unfortunately many cases – and I’m talking tens of thousands happen here, are substantiated cases of child mistreatment.”

To deal with the national wide problem of alcohol misuse the AMA wants the Federal Government to convene a National Summit. Doctors, paramedics, police, teachers and community workers would all come together and look at the evidence. On the agenda: harm minimisation, the marketing of alcohol and how young people are exposed to this marketing, pricing and taxation, venue licensing and opening hours.

Creating evidence-based solutions at a whole of government level will help change Australia’s problem with alcohol.

Intensive Care specialist and AMA Vice President, West Australian, Professor Geoffrey Dobb said:

“…what we need is change in the culture in Australia, a change in the culture that we have around alcohol…that we can’t celebrate without having a drink. That we can’t go out for an evening and enjoy a drink without actually drinking to get drunk. So we need a change and we need to involve the whole of the community in this discussion and that is why the AMA is calling for a National Summit.”

President of the AMA Victoria and Emergency doctor Steve Parnis added:

“Only last month there was a study that took a snapshot of Australia’s emergency departments at 2am or 3am on a Saturday morning and the tragic news is that at least one in seven of those emergency beds, a very precious resource, were taken up by alcohol related problems. In some hospitals as high as one in three. If those problems weren’t there, those beds would be available for patients with heart attacks, pneumonia, psychiatric illness, issues of ambulance ramping, hospital overcrowding would be significantly reduced. So we can see that this is well and truly an epidemic.

We are calling for culture change. There is no single fix for this but there are a number of things where we know it will make a difference …it will save thousands and thousands of lives…”

Representatives of the alcohol industry have dismissed the idea of the Summit claiming it won’t achieve anything. But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has embraced the idea saying bringing industry and health experts together are the best way to find national solutions.

This week Barry O’Farrell outlined measures that will make a real difference to reducing alcohol-related harms in NSW. Let’s hope the Federal Government listens to the AMA and step up to the challenge of dealing with alcohol on a national level.

Thinking about the evidence and talking with all the stakeholders through a National Summit is a good first step.