ACP recommends an evidence-based public health approach to excessive alcohol use
Barriers to treating alcohol use disorder need to be removed, more needs to be done to reduce binge drinking and heavy drinking, and policymakers and public health officials have a critical role to play on this issue, ACP said.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a treatable chronic medical condition that should be addressed through evidence-based public health and health care initiatives, according to a new ACP policy paper.
"Excessive Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorders: A Policy Brief of the American College of Physicians," was published April 23 in Annals of Internal Medicine, and includes six recommendations.
- 1. AUD is a treatable chronic medical condition that should be addressed by expanding evidence-based public health and health care initiatives to prevent and treat abuse and promote recovery.
- 2. Training, payment, and delivery system policies should enable physicians and other qualified health care professionals to screen, diagnose, and treat excessive alcohol use and AUD.
- 3. There should be funding for evidence-based public health and health care interventions to prevent and treat excessive alcohol use.
- 4. There should be evidence-based public health strategies to reduce excessive alcohol use and AUD.
- 5. There should be support for interventions to address specific alcohol-related challenges such as impaired driving, disparities in underserved and marginalized populations, excessive drinking among young adults, AUD among people who are unhoused, and alcohol use among pregnant people.
- 6. Regulators, community groups, educators, and the alcohol industry should make a concerted effort to reduce underage alcohol use. Federal, state, and local governments should implement evidence-based policies to curb underage drinking.
"Policymakers, public health organizations, physicians and other health professionals, and private and community organizations all have a substantial role to play in reducing excessive alcohol use and AUD," the position paper concluded. "ACP calls for stakeholders to reduce barriers to accessing treatment of alcohol use disorders and excessive drinking. Efforts must also be made to prevent underage drinking and reduce binge and heavy drinking among young adults and other high-risk populations."