The WHO-supported international research project “Evaluation of the impact of alcohol control policies on morbidity and mortality in Lithuania and other Baltic states” is holding a series of capacity-building workshops. These workshops aim to establish a network of researchers and equip them with in-depth knowledge and practical skills to gather valuable data and statistics, and to identify and evaluate best practices for reducing alcohol-related harm across northern Europe and beyond.
The 5-year research project aims to assess the effects of alcohol control policies implemented in the Baltic states and investigate the impact they have had on people’s health and the countries’ economies. The US$ 2 million project is funded by the United States National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and brings together Baltic and other international researchers working together with WHO country offices in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Assessing Lithuania’s tangible action
Launched in July 2020, the project focuses primarily on Lithuania’s experience of alcohol control. It aims to assess concrete actions to control alcohol consumption, in the context of a “natural experiment” with a wide range of measures implemented over a short period of time.
In 2010, Lithuania’s total alcohol consumption represented 15.1 litres of pure alcohol per capita. This made Lithuania one of the heaviest drinking countries in the WHO European Region and in the world. To confront this alarming trend, in 2008–2009 Lithuania introduced a series of WHO “best buy” policies: increasing the price of alcoholic beverages, reducing their availability and limiting their advertisement. In the period following 2014, a further ban on alcohol sales in petrol stations, major excise tax increases and other WHO-recommended fiscal regulations were implemented.
For researchers to be able to compare the performance of Baltic states in tackling alcohol-related health risks and assess the cost-effectiveness of these measures, it is essential for them to have abundant data from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Lessons learned from the project will be important for all countries of the WHO European Region and beyond, and will support the European Programme of Work – “United Action for Better Health”, aimed at better assisting countries in meeting citizen’s expectations on health for the future.
“We see fast-paced development in research on alcohol. While we know that WHO ‘best buys’ – including raising prices and taxes, and restricting marketing and availability – are effective in reducing alcohol consumption, this project will strengthen our knowledge of what worked or not with regards to neighbouring countries, and what levels of health and economic gains were or can be achieved,” said Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, Programme Manager for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs, WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office).
Taking real steps in building capacity at the national level
Convened by the NCD Office, together with the project’s principle investigators, the 2-day workshop, held on 5 and 12 November 2020, focuses on interrupted time series analysis to evaluate health policies, using the example of alcohol control policies in Lithuania.
As well as participants from the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – also joining the workshop are experts from Germany, Kazakhstan, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation and Spain.
The workshop is designed to equip national experts with:
- the programming language and free software environment for statistical computing;
- the statistical time-series analyses, including examples of time-series analyses of alcohol policies from Lithuania;
- the interpretations of the results of the statistical analyses on taxation and all-cause mortality in Lithuania.
“We need the knowledge to support countries in implementing and enforcing policies, and we need to evaluate the impact at the country level – including any undesired consequences, such as illicit trade or policy evasion,” said Dr Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Project Lead and Head of the Health Research Institute of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. “This project pushes all the right buttons, as it evaluates the impact of alcohol control in the setting of a natural experiment in 3 countries at the same time, allowing us to work with ‘real-world’ data instead of modelled ‘what if’ scenarios."
As part of the project, researchers will analyse a wide range data from Lithuania and other Baltic states related to alcohol consumption and subsequent health harms, including traffic accidents and levels of interpersonal violence. The workshop, while building national capacity, launches a series of expert gatherings and conferences, as well as peer-reviewed publications and media articles.