Implementation of effective alcohol control policies is a global priority. However, at the global and national levels, implementing effective policies is still challenging, as it requires commitment from multiple stakeholders. This review provides a synthesis of barriers and facilitators to implementing effective alcohol control policies. We conducted a scoping review from two main databases: Scopus and Web of Science, and the grey literature from the World Health Organization’s website. We included any studies investigating barriers and facilitators to implementing four effective policies: Alcohol pricing and taxation, control of physical availability, alcohol marketing control, and drink-driving policy. Articles published between 2000 and 2021 were included. The search yielded 11,651 articles, which were reduced to 21 after the assessment of eligibility criteria. We found five main barriers: resource constraint; legal loopholes; lack of evidence to support policy implementation, particularly local evidence; low priority of policy implementation among responsible agencies; and insufficient skills of implementers. Facilitators, which were scarce, included establishing monitoring systems and local evidence to support policy implementation and early engagement of implementing agencies and communities. We recommend that national governments pay more attention to potential barriers and facilitators while designing alcohol control regulations and implementing effective policies.

Objectives This study examined the association between alcohol consumption trajectory and deaths due to cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and all-cause mortality in Thailand. Design Data were obtained from a Thai prospective cohort study with more than 30 years of follow-up (n=1961). Setting All participants resided in Bangkok and its vicinity. Participants Employees from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand aged between 35 and 54 years old were randomly selected. Main outcome measures Exposure was alcohol consumption trajectory over the study period from 1985 to 2012. The main outcomes were all-cause mortality, and deaths due to cancer and CVDs recorded in national vital registries between 2002 and 2015. Cox’s proportional hazard regression was used to determine the associations between alcohol consumption trajectory and each outcome adjusting for sample characteristics, health behaviours and health conditions. Results From a total of 59 312 person years, 276 deaths were observed. Compared with drinkers who drank occasionally or most occasional over their lifetime, consistent regular or mostly consistent-regular drinkers had higher rates of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.53; 95% CI 1.09 to 2.16) and cancer mortality (HR: 2.05; 95% CI 1.13 to 3.74). The study did not find a significant association between trajectory of alcohol consumption and deaths due to CVDs. Conclusions Regular drinking of alcohol increased risk for all-cause and cancer mortality. Effective interventions should be implemented to reduce number of regular drinkers in order to saves life of individuals.

Aims: To document the prevalence of various negative effects from others’ alcohol drinking in Thailand and to examine their relationship with demographic variables and the respondents’ drinking behaviors. Setting, design, and participants: A cross-sectional household survey using multistage sampling and face-to-face interviews of 1695 Thai respondents aged 18–70 years. Measurements: Respondents’ experiences of adverse effects of others’ drinking in psychological, social, economic, and physical aspects and their relationships with sociodemographic data and drinking patterns of respondents. Results: Seventy-nine percent of the respondents reported experiencing this problem within the last 12 months. The percentages experiencing psychological harm, social harm, economic harm, and physical harm were 76.8%, 42%, 22.6%, and 6.2%, respectively. Sources of harm makers included drinking neighbors, the husbands’ respondents, and friends, especially of younger male respondents. Personal predictors include being a woman and being a drinker him- or herself. Conclusions: Harms from others’ drinking are prevalent. This indicates a need for stronger alcohol control program.

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and profile of food insecurity in households with children under 5 years old using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) in Thailand. We integrated FIES into the 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). A total of 861 households were successfully interviewed with FIES. The Rasch model was applied to examine the validity and reliability. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association between socio-economic status and prevalence of food insecurity, adjusting for geographical regions and characteristics of households. We found that FIES measurement is valid as Infit falls within the normal range of 0.7–1.3 and is reliable (Rasch reliability value of 0.81). The overall prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity was 2.79%. The wealthiest households were less likely to suffer from food insecurity than the poorest households (adjusted OR: 0.07; 95% CI: 0.02–0.34; p-value < 0.05). Households with children under 5 years old living in rural areas had lower food insecurity severity scores. We recommend social protection policies such as food and nutrition subsidies or conditional cash transfer to poor households with children under the age of 5.

Background The alcohol industry uses many of the tobacco industry’s strategies to influence policy-making, yet unlike the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, there is no intergovernmental guidance on protecting policies from alcohol industry influence. Systematic assessment of alcohol industry penetration and government safeguards is also lacking. Here, we aimed to identify the nature and extent of industry penetration in a cross-section of jurisdictions. Using these data, we suggested ways to protect alcohol policies and policy-makers from undue industry influence. Methods As part of the International Alcohol Control Study, researchers from 24 jurisdictions documented whether 22 indicators of alcohol industry penetration and government safeguards were present or absent in their location. Several sources of publicly available information were used, such as government or alcohol industry reports, websites, media releases, news articles and research articles. We summarised the responses quantitatively by indicator and jurisdiction. We also extracted examples provided of industry penetration and government safeguards. Results There were high levels of alcohol industry penetration overall. Notably, all jurisdictions reported the presence of transnational alcohol corporations, and most (63%) reported government officials or politicians having held industry roles. There were multiple examples of government partnerships or agreements with the alcohol industry as corporate social responsibility activities, and government incentives for the industry in the early COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, government safeguards against alcohol industry influence were limited, with only the Philippines reporting a policy to restrict government interactions with the alcohol industry. It was challenging to obtain publicly available information on multiple indicators of alcohol industry penetration. Conclusion Governments need to put in place stronger measures to protect policies from alcohol industry influence, including restricting interactions and partnerships with the alcohol industry, limiting political contributions and enhancing transparency. Data collection can be improved by measuring these government safeguards in future studies.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the relationship between exposure to heavy drinkers and subjective well-being and health-related quality of life in Lao PDR and Thailand. Methods: The national surveys were undertaken in Lao PDR (n=1,212) and Thailand (n=1,571). The questionnaire survey was used to assess the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI), the European Quality of Life-5 Dimension (EQ-5D), and encounters with heavy drinkers in the respondents’ everyday lives. The association between exposure to heavy drinkers and PWI and EQ-5D utility scores was examined using multivariate analysis. Results: Respondents who were exposed to a larger number of heavy drinkers in their lives were more likely to experience reduced scores for the PWI in Lao PDR and Thailand. However, Thai respondents suffered most when they were exposed to heavy drinkers in their households, while Lao respondents experienced more negative effects from exposure to heavy drinkers outside the household. In addition, every heavy drinker outside the household that Lao respondents came into contact with was associated with reduced EQ-5D utility scores. Conclusions: Exposure to heavy drinkers has a significant negative impact on well-being among the population in both countries. Thus, the reduction in alcohol’s harm to others should be considered in order to promote the well-being of the population as a whole.