Peter Anderson, part-time Professor of Alcohol and Health at CAPHRI:
“If adults continue to drink heavily, young people will too”
A society that wants young people to cut down on drinking must first ensure that adults do the same. “I like to compare it to the oxygen masks on airplanes: adults are told to put theirs on first before helping their children. The same is true of alcohol. If adults keep drinking heavily, young people will follow suit,” says Peter Anderson.
Anderson is an international expert on alcohol and was appointed part-time Professor of Alcohol and Health at CAPHRI at the start of this year, a position financed by the Reinout Pfeiffer Fund in the Netherlands. The fund was established by the father of Reinout, who died from the effects of binge drinking. “This father wants to do something about alcohol abuse in young people. He’s concerned that people don’t know enough about the effects of alcohol and is therefore eager to fund research on the issue,” says Anderson. The initiative to use fund money to sponsor a professorship came from Wim van Dalen, an expert who, from various positions, has advocated the introduction of an alcohol moderation policy for years in the Netherlands and Europe. Van Dalen personally approached Peter Anderson for this position.
“I am delighted that CAPHRI decided to make room for this position. The school has an excellent reputation in the field of alcohol research, due in part to the work of Ronald Knibbe and Paul Lemmens. They also conduct a lot of research on the implementation of evidence in healthcare. As a part-time professor, I hope to link my research with that of CAPHRI.”
General practitioner
While studying to become a general practitioner at the University of Oxford, Anderson began researching the alcohol habits of students. He later obtained a degree for his research on the role general practitioners can pay in minimising the risks of alcohol. “This is a difficult area to research. Although we know alcohol can cause significant damage, it’s the most popular and widely accepted drug – we just love to drink. To be clear, I don’t think people should stop drinking, I just think they should drink less.”
People tend to drink far too much, with fatal alcohol-related diseases as a result. These can range from cancer and cardiovascular disease to liver problems and depression. According to the World Health Organisation, alcohol is the leading cause of death among men aged 15 to 59. As a part-time professor at CAPHRI, Anderson hopes to conduct further research on the harmful effects of alcohol in the Netherlands. “I want to identify the relationship between how much someone drinks and their chances of dying from an alcohol-related disease.”
In collaboration with CAPHRI, he also hopes to research the role general practitioners can play in counselling heavy drinkers. “People who drink a lot tend to go to their GP more often with health concerns. But GPs rarely ask about a patient’s alcohol habits. It is a difficult subject to broach, but scientific research has revealed that patients don’t mind their doctors asking about it. In fact, basic advice from the GP will help two-thirds of patients cut down on drinking.”
Government policy
This help in the doctor’s office is important and can indirectly benefit young people. As Anderson stresses once more: young people will only cut back on drinking if their parents also drink less. An important task has been assigned to governments as well. “But the policy is slow to change. Just like the tobacco industry, the alcohol industry is closely connected to the government in many countries. This serves to strengthen their bond but makes them politically weak.”
Through his involvement in various European research projects, Anderson has come to the realisation that many European governments are becoming increasingly concerned about the excessive alcohol use of its citizens. “They want this to change. France, for example, has banned the advertising of alcohol on TV and in cinemas.” A step in the right direction, according to Peter Anderson. “The best measure governments can take is to raise the price of alcohol. If alcohol is cheap, people will drink more.” To conclude, he stresses the important role that scientists play in the matter. “They should encourage public debate and highlight the facts more often.”