Time for the New Zealand government to ban alcohol advertising and sponsorship in sport.

Alcohol is one of the leading causes of death and disability, with around 3.5 million deaths a year due to alcohol, and approximately 25% of all deaths in young adults attributable to alcohol worldwide.1 A signifi cant burden is also carried by the wider society through collateral damage or harms to others resulting from individuals drinking. Around 40% of those injured in drink driving accidents in New Zealand were not the drinkers, and up to a half of all police reported offences (eg, domestic violence, assaults, vandalism) in New Zealand involve alcohol.2 There are three well-established evidence-based approaches for addressing the harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption at a population level; pricing, physical availability and restrictions in alcohol marketing (ie, alcohol advertising and sponsorship).3 The New Zealand government has not effectively implemented any of them. We focus here on the latter of the three approaches to reducing alcohol harms: greater restriction on alcohol marketing. Stricter independent regulation of, or bans on, alcohol advertising and sponsorship is consistently identifi ed as among the most cost effective and easily implementable means for reducing alcohol-consumption and associated harms at a population level.3 Evidence on the impact of children’s exposure to alcohol advertising and sponsorship on subsequent drinking behaviour is clear. Exposure to alcohol advertising early in life is associated with earlier initiation of drinking, and greater drinking in existing drinkers.4 It is therefore unsurprising that the New Zealand governments own Ministerial Forum on Alcohol Advertising and Sponsorship5 and the New Zealand Law Commission Report (Alcohol in our lives: Curbing the harm)6 both called for bans on alcohol advertising and sponsorship, particularly in sport and other cultural events.