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WHO GLOBAL ALCOHOL STRATEGY
Maristela G. Monteiro, M.D., Ph.D.Senior Advisor on Alcohol and Substance
Abuse
World Health Assembly resolutions addressing alcohol-related public health
problems• 1979: Development of the WHO Programme
on alcohol related problems• 1983: Alcohol consumption and related
problems• 1986: Prevention of mental, neurological and
psychosocial problems• 1989: Prevention and control of drug and
alcohol abuse• 2002: Mental health• 2004: Health promotion and healthy lifestyles• 2005 (58th WHA): Public health problems
caused by harmful use of alcohol
• WHA58 (May 2005): Resolution "Public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol".
• WHA60 (May 2007): Report of the Secretariat on strategies to reduce harmful use of alcohol with global assessment of public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol and discussions on the draft resolution. Resolution on a global strategy for lack of consensus- consultation process put in place.
• Informal consultation (December 2007) with Member States on strategies on reduce harmful use of alcohol – 9 policy areas for action identified.
• EB122 (January 2008): Considered a report from the Secretariat and the draft resolution calling for a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
Process leading to the resolution of alcohol at the World Health Assembly 2008
After noting that they had not reached a consensus last year, delegates adopted a resolution calling upon WHO to produce a draft global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
Sixty-First World Health Assembly (2008) resolution "Strategies to reduce the
harmful use of alcohol"
Context of a process towards a global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol
Action Plan for the Global strategy on
noncommunicable diseases
WHA58 resolution "Public health
problems caused by harmful use of
alcohol"
Global strategy on harmful use
of alcohol
2007 2002 2005 2006 2013
Development of regional strategies in WPRO, SEARO
(existing in EURO)
World Health Report 2002
WHO Expert Committee on
Problems Related to Alcohol
Consumption
2008 2010 2003
FCTC
WHA61.4 resolution
"Strategies to reduce the
harmful use of alcohol"
Global Survey on Alcohol and
Healthand ATLAS
survey on PTR for SUD
The development of the strategy
Stage I. Broad consultation process • Web-based consultation• Consultation with economic operators• Consultation with NGOs and health
professionals• Consultation with UN agencies and
IGOsStage II. Draft strategy development • Regional technical consultations with
Member States (February – May 2009) in 6 WHO regions
• Draft development by the Secretariat in collaboration and consultation with Member States (May – October 2009)
• 126th session of the Executive Board• WHA 63
The content of the strategy
The global strategy: – complements and supports public
health policies in Member States;– gives guidance for action at all
levels; – sets priority areas for global
action; – contains a portfolio of policy
options and measures that could be considered for implementation and adjusted as appropriate at the national level
Effective counter measures existEffective measures:• regulating the marketing of alcoholic
beverages, (in particular to younger people);
• regulating and restricting availability of alcohol;
• enacting appropriate drink-driving policies;
• reducing demand through taxation and pricing mechanisms;
• raising awareness and support for policies;
• providing accessible and affordable treatment for people with alcohol-use disorders; and
• implementing screening programmes and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful use of alcohol
Strong links with NCDs
Global distribution of all alcohol-attributable deaths by disease or injury, 2004
Causative risk factors
Tobacco use
Unhealthy diets
Physical inactivity
Harmful use of alcohol
Non-com
municable diseases
Heart disease and stroke Diabetes Cancer Chronic lung disease
5 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
• Raised global awareness of the magnitude and nature of the health, social and economic problems caused by harmful use of alcohol, and increased commitment by governments to act to address the harmful use of alcohol;
• Strengthened knowledge base on the magnitude and determinants of alcohol-related harm and on effective interventions to reduce and prevent such harm;
• Increased technical support to, and enhanced capacity of Member States for preventing the harmful use of alcohol and managing alcohol-use disorders and associated health conditions;
• Strengthened partnerships and better coordination among stakeholders and increased mobilization of resources required for appropriate and concerted action to prevent the harmful use of alcohol;
• Improved systems for monitoring and surveillance at different levels, and more effective dissemination and application of information for advocacy, policy development and evaluation purposes.
Guiding principles• Public health interest and evidence based• Policies should be equitable and sensitive to national, religious and
cultural contexts.• All involved parties have the responsibility to act in ways that do not
undermine the implementation of public policies and interventions to prevent and reduce harmful use of alcohol.
• Public health should be given proper deference in relation to competing interests and approaches that support that direction should be promoted.
• Protection of populations at high risk of alcohol-attributable harm and those exposed to the effects of harmful drinking by others should be an integral part of policies addressing the harmful use of alcohol.
• Individuals and families affected by the harmful use of alcohol should have access to affordable and effective prevention and care services.
• Children, teenagers and adults who choose not to drink alcohol beverages have the right to be supported in their non-drinking behavior and protected from pressures to drink.
• Public policies and interventions to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm should encompass all alcoholic beverages and surrogate alcohol.
10 TARGET AREAS• (a) leadership, awareness and commitment• (b) health services’ response• (c) community action• (d) drink–driving policies and countermeasures• (e) availability of alcohol• (f) marketing of alcoholic beverages• (g) pricing policies• (h) reducing the negative consequences of drinking
and alcohol intoxication• (i) reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol
and informally produced alcohol1• (j) monitoring and surveillance.
The implementation of the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of
alcohol• Strong global and
regional leadership• Effective mechanisms for
coordination and collaboration between all levels
• Appropriate engagement of relevant stakeholders
• Sufficient resources available
Policy making
Policy implementation
Implementation structures for the Global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol
Global network of
WHO counter-parts
WHOSecretariat
Global level
Coordinating council
Task force on Public health advocacy and partnership
Chair of the global
network
Chairs of regional networks
Chairs of task forces
WHO Secretariat
Chairs of working groups
Task force on Technical support
and capacity building
Task force on Resource
mobilization
Task force on Production and
dissemination of knowledge
International partners and other
stakeholders
Technical working group(s) on
selected target areas for national
action