Media release from New Zealand Nurses Organisation

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) president Nano Tunnicliff is proud to be one of the 450 doctors and nurses to sign the petition and take a public stand to highlight the damage from heavy drinking and promote a solution based on credible research.

She explains why the issue is so important for nurses and health professionals.

"We deal directly with the effects of alcohol abuse. Midwives care for pregnant women who drink; nurses working in schools see the effects of foetal alcohol syndrome; mental health and prison nurses cope with alcohol-induced violence, and public health nurses providing clinics at secondary schools deal with unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."

"Not only do we deal with the effects of heavy drinking on many New Zealanders but we are at risk ourselves. One District Health Board (DHB) has reported 77 assaults on staff in a mere 9 months and I have no doubt that a large number of those were alcohol related."

NZNO supports the 5+ solution which includes raising alcohol prices, raising the purchase age, reducing the availability of alcohol, reducing the marketing of alcohol and increasing drink-driving countermeasures, as well as increasing treatment options for heavy drinkers.

"We urge the Government to take this opportunity to change the law around alcohol. Nurses are certain that changing the law will help to change the culture of heavy and binge drinking that is so dangerous."

"Now is the time for law reform. Only a comprehensive, integrated set of policies will bring the problem under control. We must urge the government to act positively and now," Nano Tunnicliff said.