ACP recommends an evidence-based public health approach to excessive alcohol use

ACP recommends an evidence-based public health approach to excessive alcohol use 

Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-3434  

URL goes live when the embargo lifts     

Policymakers and public health officials have a critical role to play in reducing excessive alcohol use and alcohol use disorder, says the American College of Physicians in a new policy published today.  Excessive Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorders: A Policy Brief of the American College of Physicians, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, says that barriers need to be removed to accessing treatment and more needs to be done to reduce binge drinking and heavy drinking among young adults and other high-risk populations. 

In the new paper ACP reiterates that alcohol use disorder is a treatable chronic medical condition that should be addressed through evidence-based public health and health care initiatives. Among the recommendations, ACP supports training and payment and delivery system policies that would better enable physicians and other qualified health professionals to screen, diagnose and treat patients. ACP also supports the implementation of evidence-based public health strategies to reduce excessive alcohol use and alcohol use disorder and emphasizes the need for them to be sufficiently funded. Finally, ACP calls on regulators, community groups, educators, and the alcohol industry to make a concerted effort to reduce underage alcohol use. 

April is Alcohol Awareness Month.  This public health program is organized by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence to increase understanding and awareness of alcohol use disorder. 

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at [email protected]. To speak with someone from ACP, please email Jacquelyn Blaser at [email protected].