Urgent summit needed on alcohol advertising

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, today congratulated the distilling industry for its decision to voluntarily cease daytime television advertising, but said much more was needed.

“We need some leadership here. The distilling industry must be applauded for the move, but we’ve still got another 80% of alcohol advertisers using the sports broadcasting exemption to attract a new generation of drinkers,” Dr Capolingua said.

“This is a health issue. The AMA asks the Minister for Health and Ageing to hold an urgent summit and press for an industry-wide agreement to stop advertising alcohol when children are watching.

“We’ve got to break this link between sporting heroes and alcohol.

“We urge the Minister to urgently press the entire industry for a solution. The beer and wine sectors are conspicuously silent in the debate.

“The decision from the distillers shows that there is momentum to address this, and perhaps a pang of conscience. The Minister can now capitalise on this momentum and must use it to achieve an industry-wide result.

“The only acceptable outcome is that there should be no alcohol advertising at times when children are watching.

“One Australian teenager dies every week from alcohol-related causes. Each one, each family, is a victim of a lack of leadership and moral courage – a victim of the mixed messages that warn of the perils of binge drinking, but then directly associate sport and sporting heroes with alcohol use.

“If the alcohol industry won’t act – then government must.”

3 April 2009

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