The health authorities want to cut drink driving by lowering the alcohol limit for motorists and giving the police wider discretion to perform breathalyser tests.
The goal would be to reduce the number of people who drive after taking more than three drinks from almost 11 per cent to four per cent of drivers by 2020, according to national health targets proposed yesterday.
Achieving this would entail several changes to the law, such as dropping the alcohol limit for driving from 80 milligrams of alcohol to 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood.
The Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), launched yesterday by the Public Health Regulation Department, also suggests raising the drinking age from 17 to 18 and banning those under 21 from drinking if they plan to drive.
Non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular and respiratory ailments, cancer and mental problems, are responsible for 82 per cent of deaths in Malta.
The national strategy lays down a set of targets for 2020 to address and prevent the main risk factors that lead to such diseases. It proposes ways of achieving the targets that would require the collaboration of policy-makers and stakeholders, department chairman Ray Busuttil said.
Risk factors addressed include an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco use and alcohol abuse.
In the first three months of this year the police arraigned 49 people on drink-driving charges compared to 84 for the whole of last year, the Home Affairs Minister said in reply to a parliamentary question earlier this week.
According to a study published last year, about a third of motorists who died in traffic accidents between 1995 and 2006 were found to have consumed alcohol beyond the set limit. The study also recommended a lower blood alcohol legal limit for drivers.
Most EU member states set a 50 milligram alcohol limit but Malta, like the UK, has an 80 milligram limit, typically reached after three units of spirits or two glasses of wine.
According to a new Eurobarometer survey published this month, the overwhelming majority of Maltese consume some type of alcoholic beverage on a regular basis. Some 38 per cent admitted to binge drink at least once a month.
About 93 per cent of those interviewed said they agreed with measures banning the sale of alcoholic drinks to people under 18. The majority, 73 per cent, also wanted the level of blood alcohol to be decreased for young and novice drivers.
Despite the taste for alcohol, the survey revealed ignorance of the laws with regard to alcohol, particularly those related to drink-driving. This highlighted the need for educational campaigns as listed in the national strategy launched yesterday.
Driven by a prevention motto, the strategy looks at ways of teaching people how to avoid risk factors that lead to non-communicable dieases by changing their lifestyle. It also recommends the need for law enforcement and support systems that allow everyone to have access to a healthy lifestyle.
Risk factor reduction targets for 2020
Unhealthy eating - Reduce the daily intake of processed meats from 15 to 10 per cent and drop the lack of fish consumption from 42 to 20 per cent.
Physical inactivity - Increase daily physical activity in adults from 44 to 70 per cent of the population and reduce the number of children who never exercise from 14 to about 10 per cent.
Tobacco use - Reduce the number of smokers from 20 to 15 per cent and cut passive smoking by 50 per cent.
Obesity - Reduce the prevalence of obesity for under-15s from 22 to 18 per cent.
High blood pressure - Reduce reported hypertension from 22 per cent to 19 per cent.
High blood sugar - Limit the prevalence of diabetes among people over 34 to 10 per cent since it is predicted to rise from nine to 11 per cent in 2025.
Alcohol abuse - Reduce the number of under-16 drinkers and cut the drink-driving rate from 11 to four per cent.