Cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent alcohol-related disease and injury in Australia

Addiction Volume 104 Issue 10, Pages 1646 - 1655

To evaluate cost-effectiveness of eight interventions for reducing alcohol-attributable harm and determine the optimal intervention mix.

Although current alcohol intervention in Australia (random breath testing) is cost-effective, if the current spending of $71 million could be invested in a more cost-effective combination of interventions, more than 10 times the amount of health gain could be achieved. Taken as a package of interventions, all seven preventive interventions would be a cost-effective investment that could lead to substantial improvement in population health; only residential treatment is not cost-effective.

Based on current evidence, interventions to reduce harm from alcohol are highly recommended. The potential reduction in costs of treating alcohol-related diseases and injuries mean that substantial improvements in population health can be achieved at a relatively low cost to the health sector.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: l.cobiac@uq.edu.au

_____________________________________________________________________________