In January 1971, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) initiated a national animal-bite surveillance program in cooperation with 15 health jurisdictions that agreed to submit data to the center. During the 2-year surveillance period (1971-1972), 196,684 animal-bite cases were reported from the 15 reporting areas. An animal-bite case was defined as any biting of a person by an animal reported to CDC by a participating health department. Data pertaining to some factors associated with animal bites were reported, including the age and sex of the bitten person, the species of the biting animal, and, in some areas, the status of the biting animal with respect to vaccination against rabies.

The New South Wales School Students Health Behaviours Survey (2014) reported a substantial reduction in students aged 12-17 years reporting that they had ever consumed alcohol, from 82.7% in 2005 to 65.1% in 2014. Similar downward trends are reported nationally and internationally. Although overall consumption is declining, national recommendations maintain that it is safest for young people to not drink at all; however, 17% of all young people in Australia consumed alcohol in the past 7 days, with 6% consuming at a significant risk of harm. The factors that influence young people's uptake of alcohol are complex, including biological and broader social factors. This paper identifies some of the diverse influences on young people's alcohol consumption, and policies and programs that support healthy behaviours. IntroductionFor people younger than 18 years, not drinking alcohol is the safest option. 1National guidelines also recommend delaying the first drink of alcohol for young people aged 15-17 years. A promising picture is emerging in line with these recommendations, with clear trends of young Australians delaying their first use of alcohol and refraining from alcohol consumption entirely. National and international alcohol consumption patterns in young peopleThe National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2013 reported a decrease in the proportion of young people (aged 12-17 years) who had ever consumed a full serve of alcohol from 41% in 2010 to 32% in 2013. This coincides with a rise in the average age of alcohol initiation (having consumed at least one full serve of alcohol) for younger people from 14.4 years in 1998 to 15.7 years in 2013.

Risky alcohol use has significant individual health and social impacts, and is related to short-and long-term harm, including injuries, accidents, liver diseases, some cancers, cardiovascular diseases and alcohol dependence. The Get Healthy Information & Coaching Service (GHS) is a free telephone coaching service supporting adults 16 years or older to reduce weight, improve nutrition and increase physical activity. Tailored programs are available for Aboriginal people, pregnant women and people at risk of type 2 diabetes. The GHS provides an opportunity to implement a specific program for participants wishing to reduce or cease their alcohol consumption. This paper describes the processes used to develop an Alcohol Program for the GHS. It outlines the contributions from clinical and program experts, the evidence base for the program's development, clinical screening tools, training for health coaches and referral processes for participants. The Alcohol Program has the potential to provide effective coaching to adults to voluntarily reduce short-and long-term risky alcohol consumption. BackgroundThe Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol (2009) recommend that, for healthy women and men, drinking no more than two standard drinks of alcohol on any given day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related injury or disease (Guideline 1). To reduce the likelihood of risk from a single occasion of drinking, the guidelines recommend consuming four or fewer standard drinks (Guideline 2).1 Alcohol consumption has been associated with a range of health-related harms, as well as a high economic cost arising from alcohol misuse.2 Collins and Lapsley calculated that the total cost to Australia from alcohol-related harm was $15.3 billion in 2004-05. 3 The New South Wales (NSW) Auditor-General estimated the cost of alcohol-related abuse to NSW Government services at $1.03 billion in 2010. 4 The NSW state health plan: towards 2021 has a stated target of reducing drinking at levels posing lifetime risk (Guideline 1) to below 25% by 2015.