In this newsletter: concluding our Rapid Evidence Reviews, a new AHA campaign and more!


** Welcome to the Alcohol Change UK September newsletter!
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August saw several interesting alcohol stories in the news, as well as the last in our series of six rapid evidence reviews and the announcement of the theme for Alcohol Awareness Week. We’re now making final preparations for our conference in Wales, which takes place this month. Read on to find out about all this and more!

In this newsletter:
* Less than two weeks until the Alcohol Change UK Conference in Wales (#walesconf)
* Alcohol Awareness Week 2019 – sign up for updates! (#AAW)
* Concluding our series of rapid evidence r (#RER) eviews (#RER)
* The Portman Group: is ‘encouraging’ producers to display guidelines enough? (#PG)
* Alcohol news roundup (#Newsroundup)
+ NHS staff take 7,000 sick days due to substance abuse every year
+ New research looking at young people and drinking
+ Is red wine really good for your gut?
+ Highest number of drink-drive deaths since 2009
+ New AHA campaign: what would you choose?
* Latest blogs (#Latestblogs)


** Book your tickets for this month’s annual alcohol conference in Wales
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Alcohol and everything else: When drinking isn’t the only issue

18 September 2019 – Wrexham Glyndŵr University
Our conference, ‘Alcohol and everything else’, takes place in less than two weeks at Wrexham Glyndŵr University. At the event, we’ll be focusing on how to provide the best support for people who might not fit the usual treatment criteria – including some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. It’s set to be a very exciting day.

The conference is easily accessible by car or public transport, as it is only 20 minutes by taxi from Chester station, which is on a direct line from London and Manchester.

Read blogs from several of our speakers, who will be covering topics including eating disorders ([link removed]) , autism ([link removed]) and gambling ([link removed]) .

You can read the full agenda here ([link removed]) .
Book your place — last few tickets remaining! ([link removed])


** Alcohol Awareness Week - sign up for free resources
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11 - 17 November 2019
We’re gearing up for Alcohol Awareness Week 2019, with the theme ‘Alcohol and me’. We’ll be exploring how alcohol affects us and our bodies, those around us and society as a whole. It’s set to be a very exciting week!

Sign up to receive updates on the campaign and to receive free, downloadable resources at the start of October. If your organisation has plans for Alcohol Awareness Week, please let us know (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Alcohol%20Awareness%20Week%202019%20plans) !
Sign up now ([link removed])


** Exploring alcohol harm: concluding our series of rapid evidence reviews
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On 16 August we published the last in our series of six rapid evidence reviews looking into priority areas in the field of alcohol harm reduction. The studies looked into alcohol and mental health, BAME groups, alcohol-related brain damage, digital interventions to deliver health advice, the criminal justice system and intimate partner violence. You can read all the individual pieces of research here ([link removed]) .

We would like to thank all the researchers involved for their hard work. We hope the findings will help to inform other researchers and funding organisations, as they will our work going forward.
Read the reviews ([link removed])


** The Portman Group: is 'encouraging' producers to display guidelines enough?
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At the end of July, the Portman Group announced it would encourage “all alcohol producers to include the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) low risk drinking guidance on their labels.” ([link removed]) That means it’s still not a legal requirement to include them at all, but it is now highly recommended alcohol producers do so. Although we welcome this decision, we also have a few questions to ask.
Read more in this blog ([link removed])


** Alcohol news
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** NHS staff sick days due to alcohol
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A recent study by NHS digital found that NHS staff took around 7,000 days of sick leave in 2018 due to drug or alcohol use. Many staff members may use drink or drugs to cope with stress, which can lead to sick days. We commented on the figures in this article.
Read more ([link removed])


** Smoking, drinking and young people in England
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On 20 August, NHS Digital published its new research looking into young people of secondary school age and their relationship with drinking and smoking. It showed that pupils who take drugs, smoke and drink are more likely to be unhappy, as well as that those in affluent families are more likely to drink than other young people of the same age. Read the research.

Read the research ([link removed])


** Why the recent 'red wine is good for your gut' headlines are misleading
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Recently, a piece of research was published that led to many media headlines exclaiming that red wine is good for your gut. The NHS have published a piece explaining where the misleading headlines come from, and what the research actually showed.
Find out more ([link removed])


** Highest number of drink-drive deaths since 2009
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Data from the Department for Transport show that there were between 230 and 270 fatal road accidents in 2017 where at least one of the drivers involved was under the influence of alcohol. However, the figures also show that the number of people injured in drink-drive crashes has fallen.

Read more ([link removed])


** New AHA campaign: what would you choose?
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Cuts to public health budgets mean that people who need help for addiction are not getting it. Alcohol tax has been cut, which amounts to £1bn of savings for the alcohol industry — that's enough to pay the salaries of 40,000 nurses. The new AHA campaign asks: what would you choose?
Find out how you can get involved ([link removed])


** Latest blogs
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** Jan's story: "I accept my past. I need to remember it and make my future better."
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Jan grew up in pubs, surrounded by alcohol. She battled with drinking for many years, but sought help, and her life changed for the better as a result.
Read her story ([link removed])


** Prof Mark Brosnan on making alcohol treatment more autism-friendly
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In this blog, Prof Mark Brosnan explores some of the reasons why people with autism might drink, and how services can be made more autism-friendly.

Read the blog ([link removed])

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