World Health Organisation (July 2019) ‘10 areas governments could work with to reduce the harmful use of alcohol’.
Each year 3 million lives are lost due to harmful use of alcohol. The WHO global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol seeks to improve the health and social outcomes for individuals, families and communities, with considerably reduced morbidity and mortality due to harmful use of alcohol and their ensuing social consequences. It is envisaged that the global strategy will promote and support local, regional and global actions to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
The global strategy focuses on ten key areas of policy options and interventions at the national level. The ten areas for national action are:
- Leadership, awareness and commitment.
- Health services’ response.
- Community action.
- Drink-driving policies and countermeasures.
- Availability of alcohol.
- Marketing of alcoholic beverages.
- Pricing policies.
- Reducing the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol intoxication.
- Reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol.
- Monitoring and surveillance.