AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said today that the AMA is encouraged by the growing momentum by the Government to end alcohol abuse in all areas of the Australian community.

Dr Capolingua said the broader terms of reference of the Senate Inquiry into alcohol abuse would assist the Government to build on the initiatives contained in its National Binge Drinking Strategy announced earlier this week.

She said that today’s agreement by Australia’s six major sporting bodies to work together to address binge drinking among young people is another important step.

“While it is vitally important that we address the binge drinking epidemic among our young people, we must also tackle the crippling social and economic effects of alcohol abuse in all sectors of the community,” Dr Capolingua said.

“The AMA supports the Government’s ‘whole of community’ approach to the problem and would like to see the National Binge Drinking Strategy complemented with strategies that cover all forms of alcohol abuse in the total population, especially among the socially and economically disadvantaged.

“The Government should ensure that taxes reflect the total volume of alcohol in products, and products such as ‘alcopops’ that are targeted specifically at the youth market should be taxed at a rate that makes the retail price a disincentive for young people.

“Labelling on alcohol products must include information about health risks and clearly show alcohol content.  Alcohol advertising should not contribute to a culture that trivialises the dangers of alcohol.

“Alcohol education and rehabilitation programs must be expanded and made more accessible.

“As a community, we need to look at alcohol misuse and harm across all groups and ages, and examine ways to prevent the serious harm caused by alcohol abuse,” Dr Capolingua said.

According to the most recent estimates from the National drug Strategy, the total costs of alcohol abuse to the community are at least $7.5 billion per annum. This includes lost productivity, premature death, treatment costs, crime and violence.

A 2007 study by Alcohol Related Brain Injury Australia Services (Arbias) suggests that more than 200, 000 Australians suffer undiagnosed alcohol related brain damage, and that two million others are at risk due to the amount of alcohol they consume.

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Selects JDA Software to Drive Profitability and Support its Growth and Expansion Objectives . Leading Health and Beauty Retailer Expects Increased Sales and Reduced Stock Loss with JDA Software’s Merchandise Management System
 
Sydney and Scottsdale, Ariz. – March 12, 2008 – JDA® Software Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: JDAS) today announced that Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API), one of Australia’s leading health and beauty companies, has implemented JDA’s Merchandise Management System-I (MMS®) to optimize its core merchandising system and support its strategic expansion plan. Australian Pharmaceutical operates more than 290 retail stores and pharmacies under the well-known brands Priceline and Priceline Pharmacy.

JDA Software was selected for its superior functionality to replace the retailer’s in-house merchandise system, which had limitations within its allocation, store grades, ranging and replenishment functionality. Australian Pharmaceutical needed a new solution that would support its strategic business objectives for opening additional stores and supporting more franchise pharmacies, which was not possible with the old system.

“Our original system did not support our current business and could not be enhanced. JDA’s Merchandise Management System provides the core building block of what we need to manage our business. It will also allow us to further implement enhancements to drive profitability, something that the in-house system could not provide,” said Simon Kilner, IT manager at Australian Pharmaceutical.

Australian Pharmaceutical implemented Merchandise Management as its primary system and is integrating it with existing best-of-breed solutions that support other parts of the business. Implementation was achieved in 15 months from assembling the project team to go-live. Australian Pharmaceutical expects to realize a sales increase brought about by better availability of products for the consumers, along with improved inventory efficiencies due to the new JDA Software solution. 

JDA Software and Australian Pharmaceutical conducted a series of Business Process Analysis sessions to discover how business processes would be addressed by the software. Kilner explained, “The process showed a good match between the system and the business requirement and identified a potential modification list. Key documents like systems reference guides and user reference guides were produced while extensive training and change management took place to ensure success for users.”

“We are interested in implementing more JDA products, now that the core merchandise systems have been implemented. We are considering incorporating JDA’s solutions for merchandise planning, analysis and trade event management,” added Kilner.

“JDA’s Merchandise Management solution enables companies to respond quickly to changes in the competitive environment and to achieve operational efficiencies, which will allow the company to profitably grow and expand. We are proud to support Australian Pharmaceutical Industries’ business objectives and provide valuable solutions that meet and exceed the needs and expectations of the industry,” said Rod Talbot, JDA Software regional vice president, Asia Pacific.