Canadian expert has a lot to teach the world about the harmful effects of alcohol, but are we listening at home?

TORONTO, April 29 - Canada's Dr. Jurgen Rehm, a Senior Scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and international expert on the use and risks of alcohol, is a very busy man. This week Dr. Rehm has been in Munich talking about alcohol, and is now on his way to Italy for National Alcohol Prevention Day on April 29, a huge event where his presentation will be given serious attention - National Alcohol Prevention Day has attracted more than 500 media articles for each of the last four years. Why do Canadians fail to show the same appreciation for messages on the consequences of alcohol use that we are exporting to willing Europeans?

Almost three quarters of Canadians drink alcohol, and we want to believe our drinking is basically harmless. Science shows us that it is not the case: alcohol is the third leading risk factor contributing to burden of disease in high income countries, behind tobacco use and high blood pressure. Unlike the hazards of illegal drugs, the harmful consequences of alcohol - including disease, social effects, physical injury, as well as the impact on youth - are still being downplayed in Canadian culture, even though the alcohol consumption level is about the same here as in Italy.

While many European countries are eager to hear what Dr. Rehm has to say, some Ontario communities are waking up to his message as well. On April 22 Dr. Rehm was near Owen Sound, Ontario presenting at a forum organized by the local public health unit on "Alcohol consumption: epidemiology and policy implications for Grey and Bruce counties", discussing how these counties can find a balance in the use of alcohol and prevent risk-related harms.

The forum grew out of the concern that more people in the Grey Bruce area are drinking, and they are drinking more. Today 85% of locals consume alcohol, up from 80% in 2002. The binge drinking rate - five or more drinks on one occasion - was 18% in 2001, and now it's 34%. But even moderate drinkers are drinking more. While well below 60% described themselves as drinking within the low risk drinking guidelines, this has dropped from about 65% of drinkers in 2002.

"We think that if we are not dependent on alcohol ourselves, that we can drink with no consequences. That is just not true," Dr. Rehm says. Research indicates the greater costs and burdens come from regular non-dependent social drinkers who occasionally binge-drink. "Harm from alcohol also comes to people who are not dependent - more costs, more injuries, more deaths, more hospital days compared to abstainers or very light drinkers. It's coming from diseases like cancers (including breast and colorectal), hypertensive disease, cardiovascular disease, and liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis - overall alcohol contributes to more than 130 diseases, and even though these are causal relations it takes a long time to see it," he says.

And we're passing the wrong messages about alcohol on to youth, who form their ideas early and learn about drinking from older adults. Statistics show that binge drinking among Ontario youth is high. "We should congratulate the counties of Grey and Bruce for showing concern and wanting to discuss how to find a balance in the use of alcohol and prevent risk-related harms. It's time to challenge the dangerous myth that alcohol is benign," Dr. Rehm says. "Alcohol is a big health problem and a social problem for our communities, for all of us. That means all of us have to do something about it. When will the rest of Canada get the message?"

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.

For further information: Media Contact: For more information or to request an interview, contact Michael Torres, Media Relations, CAMH at (416) 595-6015 or email media@camh.net

The new MEDEC Code of Conduct recognizes the important role of continued collaboration between physicians and industry in the development of new technologies, in ensuring the optimal use of existing technologies, and in improved patient care.  In particular, the Code maintains the importance of educational activities as well as the enhancement of professional skills. At the same time, it acknowledges that this collaboration might have the potential to create conflicts of interest or other ethical concerns if they are not handled appropriately. 

Based on MEDEC's revised Code of Conduct, medical technology companies and their representatives may continue, for example, the following types of activities:

1. Provide training and education on products;
2. Support research, educational and charitable grants; and
3. Engage Healthcare Professionals as consultants, if appropriate and subject to restrictions.

In addition a number of revisions have been adopted including:

1. Adding a new "Value Added with respect to Request for Proposals (RFP) and Tenders" section under which MEDEC provides a position on value added requests by healthcare facilities in RFPs and Tenders.
2. The replacement of the term "members" with reference to "Companies" which encourages all medical technology companies active in Canada to adopt and abide by the Code of Conduct when interacting with HCPs.

These changes are designed to ensure that medical technology companies and their representatives uphold the highest ethical standards and to ensure the collaboration between HCPs and industry can never be called into question. This will promote public trust and understanding of the valuable contributions resulting from these interactions.  The Code of Conduct and related information is available on our website at http://www.medec.org/code

Please do not hesitate to contact MEDEC with any questions.

Stephen Dibert
President & CEO
MEDEC - Canada's Medical Technology Companies
MEDEC - Les sociétés canadiennes de technologies médicales
405 The West Mall, Suite #900
Toronto, ON M9C 5J1
t. 416.620.1915 x226
f. 416.620.1595
www.medec.org

Thanks to INO, light technology is now available
for a range of industry applications

Quebec-based INO (Institut national d'optique- National Optics Institute) is Canada’s leading center of expertise in industrial applications for optics/photonics. As the home of the largest concentration of skills in the field, INO explores and commercializes a variety of technologies and innovative processes. As such, the firm serves clients of all sizes across Canada and around the world. INO's assets represent unique business opportunities for companies looking for innovative technologies to bring to the market place. These technology transfers are carried out mainly through licensing or intellectual property sales.

A key area of application for light technologies involves the detection of listeria contamination, a serious source for concern in the food industry. A solution in the fight against this infection now comes to us from a Quebec-based institute called INO (Institut national d'optique).

INO has just been selected by the Ontario Center of Excellence (along with 4 other firms from a group of 20 candidates) to conduct a feasibility study on various technologies to be used for to identify the listeria bacterium. The INO project will specifically focus on the Institute's optical cells reader platform .

Depending on results, OCE will invest in finalizing a system slightly different from the one INO has developed.  OCE may invest up to  $200,000 per year for a 3 year period. The money available through OCE is for the development of a fast solution to Listeria identification, but since the system to be developed involves a cell reader, it will be possible to use this same reader for other applications involving cells identification and counting by using the appropriate assay.

One part of the project that has been accepted will involve the development of a sensitive assay and it will be conducted by Ms. Sue Chen from LabServices, an INO partner in the project.  Industry partners participating in the project will be required to match OCE investments in cash and in-kind contributions to the project. INO is actively looking for a manufacturer that would like to participate in this project.

For the complete list of technologies available for transfer, get in touch with TMTA by writing to marcel@tmta.ca