540
Letter to the Editor
(#2014/01054-0). All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. All the opinions, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this material are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view from FAPESP and CAPES. Keywords Alcohol, ARIMA, BAC limit, Brazil, drinking and driving, injury, law, time-series, traffic accident.
12. Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS). Informações de saúde (TABNET): epidemiológicas e morbidade [Department of Informatics (DATASUS). Health information (TABNET): epidemiologic and morbidity]. Available at: http://www2.datasus.gov.br/DATASUS/index.php? area=0203 (accessed 10 October 2014). 13. Pechansky F., Chandran A. Why don’t northern American solutions to drinking and driving work in southern America? Addiction 2012; 107: 1201–6.
1
GABRIEL ANDREUCCETTI , HERACLITO BARBOSA DE 1
2
2
3
CARVALHO , CHERYL J. CHERPITEL , YU YE & VILMA LEYTON
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, Av. Dr Arnaldo, 455–2° Andar, CEP 01246-903, São Paulo SP, Brazil1, Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA, USA2, and Department of Legal Medicine,University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil3. E-mail:[email protected]
References 1. Volpe F. M., Fantoni R. Reanalysing traffic-related mortality in São Paulo. Addiction 2015; 110: 538–9. 2. Andreuccetti G., Carvalho H. B., Cherpitel C. J., Ye Y., Ponce J. C., Kahn T. et al. Reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in developing countries: a time for change? Results and implications derived from a time– series analysis (2001–10) conducted in Brazil. Addiction 2011; 106: 2124–31. 3. Raffalovich L. E. Detrending time series: a cautionary note. Sociol Methods Res 1994; 22: 492–519. 4. Chandran A., Pérez-Núñez R., Bachani A. M., Híjar M., Salinas-Rodríguez A., Hyder A. A. Early impact of a national multi-faceted road safety intervention program in Mexico: results of a time-series analysis. PLOS ONE 2014; 9: e87482. 5. Cunningham J. K., Bojorquez I., Campollo O., Liu L.-M., Maxwell J. C. Mexico’s methamphetamine precursor chemical interventions: impacts on drug treatment admissions. Addiction 2010; 105: 1973–83. 6. Herttua K., Mäkelä P., Martikainen P. An evaluation of the impact of a large reduction in alcohol prices on alcohol-related and all-cause mortality: time series analysis of a populationbased natural experiment. Int J Epidemiol 2011; 40: 441–54. 7. Norström T., Stickley A., Shibuya K. The importance of alcoholic beverage type for suicide in Japan: a time-series analysis, 1963–2007. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012; 31: 251–6. 8. Ramstedt M. Alcohol and fatal accidents in the United States —a time series analysis for 1950–2002. Accid Anal Prev 2008; 40: 1273–81. 9. Stickley A., Razvodovsky Y. The effects of beverage type on homicide rates in Russia, 1970–2005. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012; 31: 257–62. 10. Gómez-García L., Pérez-Núñez R., Hidalgo-Solórzano E. Short-term impact of changes in drinking-and-driving legislation in Guadalajara and Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Cad Saude Publica 2014; 30: 1281–92. 11. Brubacher J. R., Chan H., Brasher P., Erdelyi S., Desapriya E., Asbridge M. et al. Reduction in fatalities, ambulance calls, and hospital admissions for road trauma after implementation of new traffic laws. Am J Public Health 2014; 104: e89–97. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction
WHERE IS T HE EVIDENCE? Drinkaware writes [1] to ‘refute and clarify inaccuracies’ in our paper [2], but it was not possible to see where it addressed the substantive points we raised. We list our responses below: 1 Restating Drinkaware’s terms of reference and the role of the Medical Advisory Panel does not address the alcohol industry’s creation and funding of this organization. Similarly, listing eminent people involved in the organizational review does not change the fact of industry involvement. 2 The claim that Drinkaware’s terms of reference prevent it from intervening in political debates misses the point raised in the paper that this is applied only selectively to certain policy issues. 3 The letter refers to evidence but does not proffer any, as far as we could tell. For example, it mentions ‘recent and robust evidence’ relating to the problematic communications we identified, but it was unclear what this was. 4 If Drinkaware aspires to be transparent, it should explain what evidence the ‘Independent Medical Advisory Panel’ uses and how that evidence is reviewed. 5 Drinkaware’s letter does not reflect accurately the evidence on alcohol policy when it claims to acknowledge the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘position’. This is not a ‘position’, but a broad consensus of which the WHO is a part, based on decades of research [3]. 6 Despite the claims in the letter, those visiting the Drinkaware website ‘for the facts’ will not find the independent evidence base. The information appears to be very much like the kind of thing the alcohol industry would wish to use to shape public understanding of the nature of alcohol problems and what might be done to reduce them. We were cautious in our response [4] to the views of the commentators on the nature of Drinkaware [5–7]. We again urge close scrutiny of similar social aspects and public relations organisations [8,9] and other charities funded by the alcohol industry whose actions appear to us to advance alcohol industry interests rather than evidence-based public health [10,11]. Addiction, 110, 539–541
Drinking and driving laws in Sao Paulo Declaration of interests None. Keywords Alcohol, alcohol industry, charities, Drinkaware, policy, social aspects, WHO. JIM MCCAMBRIDGE1, KYPROS KYPRI2, PETER MILLER3, BEN HAWKINS1 & GERARD HASTINGS4 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London UK1 School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSWAustralia2 School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Vic. Australia3 Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK4 E-mail: [email protected]
References 1. Lewis D. No grounds to Beware Drinkaware. Addiction 2014; 109: 1762. 2. McCambridge J., Kypri K., Miller P., Hawkins B., Hastings G. Be aware of Drinkaware. Addiction 2014; 109: 519–24.
© 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction
541
3. Babor T., Caetano, R., Casswell S., Edwards G., Giesbrecht N., Graham K. et al. Alcohol, No Ordinary Commodity: Research and Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2010. 4. McCambridge J., Kypri K., Miller P., Hawkins B., Hastings G. From tobacco control to alcohol policy. Addiction 2014; 109: 528–9. 5. Daube M. Protecting their paymasters. Addiction 2014; 109: 526–7. 6. Collin J., Hill S. Implications for global health governance. Addiction 2014; 109: 527–8. 7. Moodie A. R. Big Alcohol: the vector of an industrial epidemic. Addiction 2014; 109: 525–6. 8. Babor T. F., Robaina K. Public health, academic medicine, and the alcohol industry’s corporate social responsibility activities. Am J Public Health 2013; 103: 206–14. 9. Babor T. F. Alcohol research and the alcoholic beverage industry: issues, concerns and conflicts of interest. Addiction 2009; 104: 34–47. 10. Lyness S. M., McCambridge J. The alcohol industry, charities and policy influence in the UK. Eur J Public Health 2014; 24: 557–61. 11. Hawkins B., McCambridge J. Industry actors, think tanks and UK alcohol policy. Am J Public Health 2014; 104: 1363–9.
Addiction, 110, 539–541
Letter to the Editor
(#2014/01054-0). All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. All the opinions, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this material are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the point of view from FAPESP and CAPES. Keywords Alcohol, ARIMA, BAC limit, Brazil, drinking and driving, injury, law, time-series, traffic accident.
12. Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS). Informações de saúde (TABNET): epidemiológicas e morbidade [Department of Informatics (DATASUS). Health information (TABNET): epidemiologic and morbidity]. Available at: http://www2.datasus.gov.br/DATASUS/index.php? area=0203 (accessed 10 October 2014). 13. Pechansky F., Chandran A. Why don’t northern American solutions to drinking and driving work in southern America? Addiction 2012; 107: 1201–6.
1
GABRIEL ANDREUCCETTI , HERACLITO BARBOSA DE 1
2
2
3
CARVALHO , CHERYL J. CHERPITEL , YU YE & VILMA LEYTON
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, Av. Dr Arnaldo, 455–2° Andar, CEP 01246-903, São Paulo SP, Brazil1, Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA, USA2, and Department of Legal Medicine,University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil3. E-mail:[email protected]
References 1. Volpe F. M., Fantoni R. Reanalysing traffic-related mortality in São Paulo. Addiction 2015; 110: 538–9. 2. Andreuccetti G., Carvalho H. B., Cherpitel C. J., Ye Y., Ponce J. C., Kahn T. et al. Reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in developing countries: a time for change? Results and implications derived from a time– series analysis (2001–10) conducted in Brazil. Addiction 2011; 106: 2124–31. 3. Raffalovich L. E. Detrending time series: a cautionary note. Sociol Methods Res 1994; 22: 492–519. 4. Chandran A., Pérez-Núñez R., Bachani A. M., Híjar M., Salinas-Rodríguez A., Hyder A. A. Early impact of a national multi-faceted road safety intervention program in Mexico: results of a time-series analysis. PLOS ONE 2014; 9: e87482. 5. Cunningham J. K., Bojorquez I., Campollo O., Liu L.-M., Maxwell J. C. Mexico’s methamphetamine precursor chemical interventions: impacts on drug treatment admissions. Addiction 2010; 105: 1973–83. 6. Herttua K., Mäkelä P., Martikainen P. An evaluation of the impact of a large reduction in alcohol prices on alcohol-related and all-cause mortality: time series analysis of a populationbased natural experiment. Int J Epidemiol 2011; 40: 441–54. 7. Norström T., Stickley A., Shibuya K. The importance of alcoholic beverage type for suicide in Japan: a time-series analysis, 1963–2007. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012; 31: 251–6. 8. Ramstedt M. Alcohol and fatal accidents in the United States —a time series analysis for 1950–2002. Accid Anal Prev 2008; 40: 1273–81. 9. Stickley A., Razvodovsky Y. The effects of beverage type on homicide rates in Russia, 1970–2005. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012; 31: 257–62. 10. Gómez-García L., Pérez-Núñez R., Hidalgo-Solórzano E. Short-term impact of changes in drinking-and-driving legislation in Guadalajara and Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Cad Saude Publica 2014; 30: 1281–92. 11. Brubacher J. R., Chan H., Brasher P., Erdelyi S., Desapriya E., Asbridge M. et al. Reduction in fatalities, ambulance calls, and hospital admissions for road trauma after implementation of new traffic laws. Am J Public Health 2014; 104: e89–97. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction
WHERE IS T HE EVIDENCE? Drinkaware writes [1] to ‘refute and clarify inaccuracies’ in our paper [2], but it was not possible to see where it addressed the substantive points we raised. We list our responses below: 1 Restating Drinkaware’s terms of reference and the role of the Medical Advisory Panel does not address the alcohol industry’s creation and funding of this organization. Similarly, listing eminent people involved in the organizational review does not change the fact of industry involvement. 2 The claim that Drinkaware’s terms of reference prevent it from intervening in political debates misses the point raised in the paper that this is applied only selectively to certain policy issues. 3 The letter refers to evidence but does not proffer any, as far as we could tell. For example, it mentions ‘recent and robust evidence’ relating to the problematic communications we identified, but it was unclear what this was. 4 If Drinkaware aspires to be transparent, it should explain what evidence the ‘Independent Medical Advisory Panel’ uses and how that evidence is reviewed. 5 Drinkaware’s letter does not reflect accurately the evidence on alcohol policy when it claims to acknowledge the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘position’. This is not a ‘position’, but a broad consensus of which the WHO is a part, based on decades of research [3]. 6 Despite the claims in the letter, those visiting the Drinkaware website ‘for the facts’ will not find the independent evidence base. The information appears to be very much like the kind of thing the alcohol industry would wish to use to shape public understanding of the nature of alcohol problems and what might be done to reduce them. We were cautious in our response [4] to the views of the commentators on the nature of Drinkaware [5–7]. We again urge close scrutiny of similar social aspects and public relations organisations [8,9] and other charities funded by the alcohol industry whose actions appear to us to advance alcohol industry interests rather than evidence-based public health [10,11]. Addiction, 110, 539–541
Drinking and driving laws in Sao Paulo Declaration of interests None. Keywords Alcohol, alcohol industry, charities, Drinkaware, policy, social aspects, WHO. JIM MCCAMBRIDGE1, KYPROS KYPRI2, PETER MILLER3, BEN HAWKINS1 & GERARD HASTINGS4 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London UK1 School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSWAustralia2 School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Vic. Australia3 Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK4 E-mail: [email protected]
References 1. Lewis D. No grounds to Beware Drinkaware. Addiction 2014; 109: 1762. 2. McCambridge J., Kypri K., Miller P., Hawkins B., Hastings G. Be aware of Drinkaware. Addiction 2014; 109: 519–24.
© 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction
541
3. Babor T., Caetano, R., Casswell S., Edwards G., Giesbrecht N., Graham K. et al. Alcohol, No Ordinary Commodity: Research and Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2010. 4. McCambridge J., Kypri K., Miller P., Hawkins B., Hastings G. From tobacco control to alcohol policy. Addiction 2014; 109: 528–9. 5. Daube M. Protecting their paymasters. Addiction 2014; 109: 526–7. 6. Collin J., Hill S. Implications for global health governance. Addiction 2014; 109: 527–8. 7. Moodie A. R. Big Alcohol: the vector of an industrial epidemic. Addiction 2014; 109: 525–6. 8. Babor T. F., Robaina K. Public health, academic medicine, and the alcohol industry’s corporate social responsibility activities. Am J Public Health 2013; 103: 206–14. 9. Babor T. F. Alcohol research and the alcoholic beverage industry: issues, concerns and conflicts of interest. Addiction 2009; 104: 34–47. 10. Lyness S. M., McCambridge J. The alcohol industry, charities and policy influence in the UK. Eur J Public Health 2014; 24: 557–61. 11. Hawkins B., McCambridge J. Industry actors, think tanks and UK alcohol policy. Am J Public Health 2014; 104: 1363–9.
Addiction, 110, 539–541
