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Abstract Background Recent years have seen a growing research and policy interest in prevention in many developed countries. However, the actual efforts and resources devoted to prevention appear to have lagged well behind the lip service paid to the topic. Discussion We review the evidence on the considerable existing scope for health gains from prevention as well as for greater prevention policy efforts in Germany. We also discuss the barriers to "more and better" prevention and provide modest suggestions about how some of the obstacles could be overcome. Summary In Germany, there are substantial health gains to be reaped from the implementation of evidence-based, cost-effective preventive interventions and policies. Barriers to more prevention include social, historical, political, legal and economic factors. While there is sufficient evidence to scale up prevention efforts in some public health domains in Germany, in general there is a comparative shortage of research on non-clinical preventive interventions. Some of the existing barriers in Germany are at least in principle amenable to change, provided sufficient political will exists. More research on prevention by itself is no panacea, but could help facilitate more policy action. In particular, there is an economic efficiency-based case for public funding and promotion of research on non-clinical preventive interventions, in Germany and beyond, to confront the peculiar challenges that set this research apart from its clinical counterpart.

Dear Editor: In 2007, Gmel and Daeppen published an article in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs on recall bias of alcohol consumption among emergency-department patients in case-crossover [...]

Patients who entered heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) (n = 220) or abstinence-oriented residential treatment (AORT) (n = 982) in Switzerland in 2005/06 were compared. Patients entering HAT were older, spent more time in prison and had more previous treatment attempts, but AORT patients had more often unsafe injections. Selfreferrals were more frequent for HAT, referrals by court for AORT. Social conditions improved in both patient groups compared to patients entering 10 years ago. Average age at entry increased, particularly in HAT. Heroin as primary substance of abuse has decreased in AORT, mainly in favor of cocaine. Conclusions for other countries engaging in HAT are: HAT leads to a new balance among treatment approaches. AORT must be better adapted to the needs of nonopioid and younger addicts, while HAT takes care of older clients with more health problems and former crime involvement. Referral practice should consider this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]