Letterkenny has been selected as one of 12 Irish towns in a new ‘Building SAFER Communities Initiative’ to reduce the negative impact of alcohol.
The project, to be launched today in Dublin, empowers community leaders to inspire action.
“With four deaths per day attributable to alcohol here in Ireland, a figure that ranks Ireland as 7th globally for deaths from alcohol, we need to work at every level to reduce death and illness related to alcohol,” says Paula Leonard, CEO of Alcohol Forum Ireland based in Letterkenny.
Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network with Alcohol Forum Ireland is launching high impact policy measures to reduce and prevent alcohol harm. Over the next three years, this demonstration project will be delivered in 12 communities in Ireland, supported by seven local and regional Drug and Alcohol Task Forces.
“We are confident that working in this way at community level, we can make a real difference,” Paula said.
Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton TD will launch the project, as one of five successful projects in Ireland funded as part a new €1.5 million drug prevention and education funding scheme which was launched last year.
This scheme supports Priority 1 arising from the mid-term review of the National Drugs Strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery which commits to strengthening the prevention of drug and alcohol use and associated harms among children and young people in Ireland.
The Building SAFER Communities project will develop, implement and evaluate a multi component environmental community action on alcohol project which uses the World Health Organisation’s SAFER package of effective measures based on the latest scientific evidence regarding prevention.
Minister Naughton has highlighted the need for Ireland to build on the prevention of alcohol and other drug harm: “Prevention is a cornerstone of the National Drugs Strategy – Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. That is why I feel it is imperative that we support evidence-based initiatives that engage with people who may be at risk of using drugs’ in a variety of contexts – in our schools, communities, universities, and the night-time economy, through timely preventative interventions.”
The WHO European Office have advised on the development of this project and Dr Carina Ferreira – Borges, Regional Advisor for Alcohol, Illicit Drugs & Prison Health. WHO Regional Office for Europe will be one of those contributing to the event (by zoom from their office in Copenhagen).
Speaking ahead of the event, Dr Ferreira – Borges highlighted the inclusion of community action as one of the six priority areas of the European Framework on Alcohol; “Community Action is very important for making sure we can move with policy action. Ireland is actually a good example, they have shown the importance of grassroot movements. The progress that Ireland has seen in alcohol policy has only been possible because of these movements, because of these communities, because the voices of the people are being heard, are being part of a process that takes everybody into a common road.”
These SAFER policy measures will be translated and adapted into practical actions within an Irish context. SAFER is an acronym for the 5 most cost-effective interventions to reduce alcohol related harm: (S) Strengthen restrictions on alcohol availability, (A) Advancing and enforcing drink driving measures, (F) Facilitate access to screening, treatment and brief intervention, (E) Enforce bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion and (R) Raise prices on alcohol through excise tax and pricing policies.
Acknowledging the support from across Government Departments and Agencies, Paula is keen to highlight the fact that “often the leadership and commitment of grass roots community leaders is overlooked and therefore opportunities to really bring about lasting change in Ireland’s problematic relationship with alcohol are missed. The support right across agencies including the HSE, local government, the Gardai and the Department of Health is hugely important and will be key to the success of this project over the next three years”.
