The New Zealand Medical Association adds its voice to Alcohol Healthwatch, Hāpai te Hauora, the Cancer Society and Health Coalition Aotearoa in calling for reducing alcohol exposure to children and young people especially tamariki Māori and Pasifika children who are disproportionately subjected to alcohol marketing. NZMA supports the call for the Government to set the standards for how the alcohol industry is allowed to market its products but wants to see the eventual phasing out of all forms of alcohol advertising, consistent with what the Law Commission recommended.

This call comes after the release of the Advertising Standards Authority Code for Alcohol Advertising and Promotion which does not go far enough in protecting New Zealand kids and disadvantaged groups from the harmful effects of alcohol marketing.

“However, greater restrictions on the marketing of alcohol are just one of several measures that are necessary to reduce the harms from alcohol,” says Dr Kate Baddock Chair of the New Zealand Medical Association.

“In our submission to the Advertising Standards Authority, we also recommended, (along with other measures), an end to the availability of extremely cheap alcohol, often sold as ready-to-drink products, ideally by way of taxation and/or a minimum pricing scheme.”

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