The Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA) is an alliance of more than 60 non-governmental organisations which work together to promote evidence-based policies to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.
Members of the AHA include medical royal colleges, charities, unions, treatment providers and other organisations that want to tackle alcohol harm.
The AHA was launched in 2007 and is chaired by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, a leading professor of hepatology and special advisor on alcohol to the Royal College of Physicians
Since our establishment in 2007, tackling alcohol harm in our society has been at the heart of everything we do at the Alcohol Health Alliance UK.
As a liver specialist, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating consequences of alcohol harm; shortening the lives of so many and leaving lasting damage to families and communities around the country.There have been many great strides forward to improve public health in recent decades; with policies in place to protect people from the harm inflicted by cigarettes and junk food. Alcohol harm, however, continues to rise.
Deaths linked to liver disease have risen a staggering 400% in 40 years; alcohol harm costs our society at least £27 billion every year and 308,000 children currently live with at least one high-risk drinker over the age of 18. These are just a few of the examples of the wide reach of alcohol harm and why it needs addressing urgently.
Until we see the introduction of evidence-based policies and measures to tackle alcohol harm, the AHA and its members will continue to work hard to keep alcohol harm on the agenda and help deliver lasting change to public health.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore
The AHA is independent of the alcohol industry
The AHA does not work directly with the alcohol industry. Evidence shows that the global alcohol industry is working to influence policy at an international, national and local level in order to favour their business interests. Interventions proposed by the alcohol industry are generally weak, rarely evidence-based and unlikely to reduce the impact of alcohol-related harm.
The alcohol industry advocates working in partnership, however often these partnerships are used to gain political influence and public support for ineffective policy measures while misrepresenting effective evidence-based policies.
The AHA considers alcohol harm to be a population-wide issue and advocates that any policies to tackle the problem should be developed independently of groups with a vested interest, such as the alcohol industry, in maximising profits for shareholders.
The AHA does not have a view on individual drinking. The AHA campaigns for evidence-based policies to tackle the harms caused by alcohol, not for prohibition.
The AHA is supported by:
