BackgroundIn this paper, we describe an analysis of alcohol policy initiatives sponsored by alcohol producer SABMiller and the International Center on Alcohol Policies, an alcohol industry-funded organization. In a number of sub-Saharan countries these bodies have promoted a ‘partnership’ role with governments to design national alcohol policies.MethodologyA comparison was conducted of four draft National Alcohol Policy documents from Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda and Botswana using case study methods.FindingsThe comparison indicated that the four drafts are almost identical in wording and structure and that they are likely to originate from the same source.ConclusionsThe processes and the draft policy documents reviewed provide insights into the methods, as well as the strategic and political objectives of the multi-national drinks industry. This initiative reflects the industry's preferred version of a national alcohol policy. The industry policy vision ignores, or chooses selectively from, the international evidence base on alcohol prevention developed by independent alcohol researchers and disregards or minimizes a public health approach to alcohol problems. The policies reviewed maintain a narrow focus on the economic benefits from the trade in alcohol. In terms of alcohol problems (and their remediation) the documents focus upon individual drinkers, ignoring effective environmental interventions. The proposed policies serve the industry's interests at the expense of public health by attempting to enshrine ‘active participation of all levels of the beverage alcohol industry as a key partner in the policy formulation and implementation process’.

Epidemiological studies assessing adult sleep duration have yielded inconsistent findings and there are still large variations in estimation of insomnia prevalence according to the most recent diagnostic criteria. Our objective was to describe sleep patterns in a large population of middle‐aged and older adults, by employing accurate measures of both sleep duration and insomnia. Data stem from the Tromsø Study (2015–2016), an ongoing population‐based study in northern Norway comprising citizens aged 40 years and older (n = 21,083, attendance = 64.7%). Sleep parameters were reported separately for weekdays and weekends and included bedtime, rise time, sleep latency and total sleep time. Insomnia was defined according to recent diagnostic criteria (International Classification of Sleep Disorders; ICSD‐3). The results show that 20% (95% confidence interval,19.4–20.6) fulfilled the inclusion criteria for insomnia. The prevalence was especially high among women (25%), for whom the prevalence also increased with age. For men, the prevalence was around 15% across all age groups. In all, 42% of the women reported sleeping <7 hr (mean sleep duration of 7:07 hr), whereas the corresponding proportion among males was 52% (mean sleep duration of 6:55 hr). We conclude that the proportion of middle‐aged and older adults not getting the recommended amount of sleep is worryingly high, as is also the observed prevalence of insomnia. This warrants attention as a public health problem in this population.

Prioritising action on alcohol for health and development Despite the existence of cost effective interventions to reduce harmful use of alcohol, many countries are not giving it the attention it deserves, say Dag Rekve and colleagues

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