The World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2005 passed resolution WHA 58.26, Public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol, the first resolution exclusively on alcohol since 1983. In May this year the WHA considered a report from the WHO secretariat and discussed a proposed new draft resolution. The discussion in the WHA ended without agreement on an alcohol resolution, and the issue was referred to the WHO Executive Board meeting to be held in January 2008. This upcoming meeting provides a new opportunity to advance the alcohol issue in the WHO system. The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance strongly supports strengthening WHO's attention to the global health burden from alcohol, and will continue promoting a global strategy on alcohol.

We urge NGOs across the globe to join in advocacy efforts to continue and expand the WHO's mandate to develop a global strategy on alcohol-related public health problems.

Recent developments

In early December the WHO Secretariat convened a one-day meeting of representatives of member-state Permanent Missions to discuss the proposed alcohol resolution in advance of the Executive Board meeting. The meeting was an attempt to establish consensus regarding potentially divisive issues that were raised at the last WHA meeting. At the last meeting, delegates ran out of time before achieving agreement, and time constraints could once again become a factor...We have heard from several sources that the meeting was well attended and quite productive. There is widespread agreement that alcohol represents a major public health problem and that a new process-oriented resolution giving the WHO Secretariat a mandate to provide guidance regarding alcohol policy options (Global Strategy, Plan, or some other form) is needed. We are encouraged by the outcome of the meeting and we look forward to productive discussions at the Executive Board Meeting in January.

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Please write to your government (Health Minister), present your views, and ask for a meeting to discuss these matters with the minister and/or other members of the delegation to the Executive Board or World Health Assembly. We have a simple direct message to convey: It is high time to expand the WHO's supportive activities on alcohol issues and the Executive Board should endorse a resolution calling for the development of an evidence-based global strategy on alcohol. That resolution should:

* recognise the importance of WHO's collaboration with medical and non-governmental organizations to promote the implementation of effective policies and programs to reduce harmful alcohol consumption, and
* respect the WHO Expert Committee's recommendation (no. 9) that WHO's interaction with the alcoholic-beverage industry not concern the development of alcohol policy or health promotion.

Below you find GAPA's position paper (one pager) on the issue. You may build on this if you wish, adapting it to your local situation. We recommend that you make this your own paper and copy it onto your own letterhead.

We also urge you to contact other NGOs, professional agencies or other interested parties to mobilise their support in this effort.

Please report back to us on your advocacy activities so we have this information when we meet with delegates in Geneva. Please send this information to oystein.bakke@forut.no

Many thanks,

Oystein Bakke

Letter:

TIME TO ADDRESS GLOBAL ALCOHOL PROBLEMS

Alcohol is a substantial and growing cause of worldwide health, safety, social, and economic problems. Global leadership to reduce harm is needed. WHO should continue to play a leading role in coordinating response to the global nature of alcohol problems.

Alcohol problems growing worldwide
• In developed countries, alcohol is the third most serious health risk factor, accounting for 9.2% of the disease burden.
• In developing countries with low mortality, alcohol is the leading risk factor for ill-health and premature death.
• Alcohol consumption is increasing rapidly in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
• National, regional, and the global economies bear a mammoth burden resulting from alcohol use, including the costs of crime and disorder, domestic and other inter-personal violence, child abuse, traffic crashes, accidents, increased risk of HIV transmission, health care, poverty, and the loss of productivity. National burdens range from 1% to 4.5% of GDP. In developing countries with very high mortality unintentional injuries make up the greatest proportion of alcohol-related health burden.
• Young people are among those at highest risk of harm; increasingly, young people in developing countries are beginning to adopt harmful patterns of drinking common among the young in developed countries.
• The patterns of drinking among women are converging with those of men, leading to higher-risk alcohol consumption and greater vulnerabilities to alcohol problems, including victimization by men, unwanted pregnancies, potential harm to the unborn, and a heightened risk of breast cancer.

Global leadership is needed
Over the past decade, WHO research and reports have brought to international attention the growing problems associated with the increasing use of alcohol. In 2005, the Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA58.26: Public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol, the first resolution on alcohol since 1983.

Subsequent to the adoption of the resolution, the Regional Committees of South East Asia (SEARO) and the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) have supported the initiative by adopting policies for their regions. The Pan American region organised a Conference on the problem, and the European region has had an active Alcohol Action Plan for over 15 years. In 2007, the WHO Expert Committee on Problems Related to Alcohol Consumption reported on the present knowledge base concerning alcohol problems and provided recommendations for intervention and effective alcohol policies to combat those problems.

The WHO is ideally suited to take the lead in promoting evidence-based, nationally and regionally tailored, effective public health policies to reduce the global burden of alcohol problems and to give special attention to growing risks in the developing world. IOGT International urges WHO member states to support a WHO “Global Strategy on Alcohol” during discussions on alcohol-related harm scheduled for the 122nd Executive Board meeting of WHO in January 2008.