Malabo, 31 August 2010 -- The World Health Organization has proposed a strategy to prevent or at least reduce the harmful use of alcohol and related problems in the African Region.

The strategy, based on five key principles to guide policy development at country level, is predicated on: the use of the best available evidence and sensitivity to national contexts in policy formulation; protection of people at risk, particularly harm from other people’s act of drinking, and from pressures to drink; strong political commitment, leader-ship and appropriate funding; equitable and non-stigmatized access to effective prevention and care services, and undertaking of joint actions with key agencies, partners and stakeholders in a coordinated, strategic and integrated manner.

The strategy, proposed by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, will be discussed today at the ongoing 60th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa taking place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The ten priority interventions proposed in the strategy include developing and implementing alcohol control policies; strengthening leadership, coordination and mobilization of partners; generating awareness and community action; providing information-based public education; improving health sector response; and strengthening strategic information, surveillance and research systems.

Others are enforcing drink-driving legislation and counter-measures; regulating alcohol marketing; addressing accessibility, availability and affordability of alcohol; addressing illegal and informal production of alcohol; and increasing resource mobilization and allocation.

The strategy assigns specific responsibilities to countries, WHO and other development partners to ensure its successful implementation.

The strategy document assigns to WHO and partners the responsibility of supporting countries by developing and providing evidence-based tools and guidelines for policies, interven-tions and services; maintaining a regional information system and providing technical support to Member States in surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of alcohol consumption and related problems; providing them technical support in the development and review of effective and comprehensive alcohol policies and strategies; facilitating the creation and capacity building of Inter-country networking for exchange of experiences, and facilitating effective linkages, cooperation and collaboration among international agencies, partners and stakeholders.

It says that countries should: develop and implement comprehensive alcohol policies that are evidence-based and focus on public health interest; mobilize and allocate resources for alcohol policies; create public awareness on alcohol-related harm and mobilize communi-ties to support the implementation of evidence-based policy; adopt and enforce regulations and legislation aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and related harm and strengthen clinical practices; promote and strengthen independent research in order to assess the situation and monitor national trends and the impact of adopted policy measures; reinforce training and support for all those engaged in alcohol control policy activities in an attempt to increase knowledge and skills and facilitate policy implementation.

Countries are also to be responsible for establishing systems for monitoring and sur-veillance in order to capture the magnitude of alcohol consumption and related health, social and economic harms, providing information on existing laws and regulations; and contributing to the exchange of alcohol surveillance information between regions and countries.

According to WHO, public health problems related to alcohol consumption are substantial and have a significant adverse impact on both the alcohol user and the society. In the African Region, the alcohol-attributable burden of disease is increasing with an estimated total of deaths attributable to harmful use of alcohol of 2.1% in 2000, 2.2% in 2002 and 2.4% in 2004. However, with new evidence suggesting a relationship between heavy drinking and infectious diseases, alcohol-attributable deaths in the African Region could be even higher.

La OMS Propone una Estrategia para Reducir el Uso Nocivo del Alcohol

For more information, please contact:

Technical contact

Dr Sidi Allel Louazani; WHO/AFRO, Brazzaville; Tel. +47 241 39330; E-mail: louzanis [at] afro.who.int (louzanis[at]afro[dot]who[dot]int)

Media contact

Samuel T. Ajibola, WHO/AFRO, Brazzaville; Tel: (+242) 7700202; + 41 241 39378; E-mail: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int (ajibolas[at]afro[dot]who[dot]int)