Government must get tough on alcohol abuse

March 9, 2011

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), Māori nurses, emergency nurses and mental health nurses have all called on the government to get much tougher on New Zealand’s “disastrous drinking culture”.

Speaking on the Alcohol Reform Bill at the Justice and Electoral Select Committee today [March 9], nursing representatives said the Bill in its current form would do little to change the epidemic of harm caused by alcohol abuse, and called for it to be significantly strengthened.

In its submission on the Bill, NZNO called for the protections that would be put in place for any other epidemic – “prevention through limiting access to alcohol; protection for the most vulnerable, especially children; education to change attitudes; and timely intervention and treatment”.

NZNO said nurses dealt directly with the harm caused by alcohol abuse: from lead maternity carers caring for pregnant women who “poison” their babies with alcohol; to mental health and prison nurses who cope with alcohol-induced violence; from Family Planning nurses who deal with unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, to emergency nurses who have to re-prioritise the care of other sick people to deal with victims of drunk driving, alcohol-fuelled violence or those suffering alcohol poisoning.

NZNO believes alcohol abuse is a health issue but echoed the concerns of the Law Commission that the health and justice systems were pulling in opposite directions on this issue. “Until it is treated as a health issue the minor reforms proposed in this Bill will not effect the cultural change needed and we will continue to waste resources, breed addiction and fail in our duty to protect children,” NZNO’s submission stated.

Te Runanga o Aotearoa NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku told the Select Committee that alcohol has had a destructive impact on the health of Māori since it was introduced by Europeans in the early 1800s.

“Alcohol has disrupted Māori cultural norms, values and traditions and Māori continue to experience disproportionate harm from alcohol. Māori are four times more likely than non-Māori to die from an alcohol-related condition,” she told the Select Committee.

Te Runanga opposed the normalisation of alcohol as an everyday product and the aggressive marketing of alcohol, called for and end to “legal drunk driving” and for culturally appropriate treatment programmes.

NZNO and Te Runanga support Alcohol Action NZ’s 5+ solution to alcohol-related harm, namely raising the price and purchase age, reducing accessibility and marketing and advertising and increasing measures to stop drink driving.

ENDS

© Scoop Media