Draft resolution  

Public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol

The Executive Board,

Having considered the report on public health problems caused by alcohol1  

RECOMMENDS to the Fifty-Eighth World Health  Assembly the adoption of the following resolution:

The Fifty-Eighth World Health Assembly,

  Recalling resolutions WHA32.40 on development of the WHO programme on alcohol-related problems, WHA36.12 on development of national policies and  programs to tackle alcohol- related problems, WHA 42.20 on prevention and control of drug and alcohol abuse, WHA 55.10 on mental health, WHA57.10 on road safety and health, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles and WHA57.17 on Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.

  Recalling The World Health Report 20022, which indicates that 4 per cent of disease  burden and 3.2 per cent of all deaths globally  are attributed to alcohol, and that alcohol is the number one risk factor to health in low-mortality developing countries and the third in developed countries; 

  Recognizing that the patterns, context and overall level of alcohol consumption influence the health of the population as a whole and that harmful drinking is among the foremost underlying causes of disease, injury, violence, disability, social problems and premature deaths and associated with mental ill health, and has a serious impact on human welfare affecting individuals, families, communities and society as a whole and also contributing to social- and health  inequalities; 

  Emphasizing the risk of harm caused by alcohol consumption in the context of vehicle driving, at the workplace and during pregnancy;

 
  Alarmed by the proportions of public health problems associated with harmful use of alcohol and the trends in hazardous drinking particularly among young people in many Member States;

  Recognizing that alcohol intoxication is associated with high risk behaviours including the use of other psychoactive substances and unsafe sex;

  Concerned about the economic loss to society, including costs to the health services, to social welfare and to criminal justice systems as well as costs for lost productivity and reduced economic development, caused by harmful alcohol consumption;

  Recognizing the threats posed to public health by the factors which have given rise to increasing availability and accessibility of alcohol beverages in some Member States; 

  Noting growing evidence of the effectiveness of strategies and measures aimed at reduction of alcohol-related harm;

  
Mindful that individuals should be empowered to make positive, life-changing decisions for themselves on matters such as alcohol;

          REQUESTS Member States

  (1)   to develop, implement and evaluate effective strategies and programs for reduction of alcohol-related negative health and social consequences;

  (2)   to support the work requested of the
Director General below including, if necessary, through voluntary contributions by interested Member States;

  

  (3) to encourage mobilization of all concerned social and economic groups, including scientific, professional, non-governmental, voluntary, private sector, civil society and industry associations, and to engage them actively and appropriately in reducing harmful use of alcohol;

REQUESTS the Director-General:

  (1) to strengthen WHOs capacity to assistMember States in their efforts to monitor alcohol related harm and strengthen the scientific and empirical evidence for effective policies;

  (2) to intensify international cooperation to reduce public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol and mobilize the necessary support at the global and regional levels;

    (3) to produce a report on evidence- based strategies and intervention for the reduction of alcohol-related harm including  a comprehensive assessment of public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol to be presented at the sixtieth World Health Assembly;

  (4) to undertake the necessary steps for developing recommendations for effective  policies and interventions to reduce the alcohol-related harm and develop technical tools that will assist Member States in  implementing and evaluating the recommended strategies and programmes;

  (5) to strengthen the global and regional information systems on alcohol consumption and its health and social consequences by developing further data collection and analysis mechanisms, providing technical assistance to Member States, and supporting research where data is not available;

  (6) to promote and support global and  regional activities aimed at identification and management of alcohol use disorders in health care settings and enhancing capacity of health care professionals to address problems in their patients associated with harmful patterns of alcohol consumption;

    (7) to ensure transparency, impartiality and balanced regional and gender representation in the selection of experts for technical consultations on alcohol and in activities of advisory panels, including the Alcohol Policy Strategy Advisory Committee, in accordance with the established rules and procedures of the WHO;

  (8) to collaborate with Member States, inter-governmental organisations, health professionals, non-governmental organisations and other relevant stakeholders, to promote the implementation of effective policies and programmes to reduce harmful alcohol consumption;

  (9) to organise open consultations with industry, agriculture and distributors to limit the health impact of harmful alcohol consumption;

  (10) to report through the Executive Board to the Sixtieth World Health Assembly on progress made in the implementation of this resolution.

Final resolution

115th Session EB115.R5 Agenda item 4.12 22 January 2005

Public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol

The Executive Board,

Having considered the report on public health problems caused by alcohol,1

RECOMMENDS to the Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly the adoption of the following resolution:

The Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly,

  Recalling resolutions WHA32.40 on development of the  WHO programme on alcohol-related problems,  WHA36.12 on alcohol consumption and alcohol-   related problems: development of national policies and  programmes, WHA42.20 on prevention 
and   control of drug and alcohol abuse, WHA55.10 on  mental health: responding to the call for action, WHA57.10 on road safety and health, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles and WHA57.17 on Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health; 

  Recalling The world health report 2002,2 which indicates that 4% of disease burden and 3.2% of all deaths globally  are attributed to alcohol, and that alcohol is the foremost risk to health in low-mortality developing countries and the third in developed countries; 

  
Recognizing that the patterns, context and overall level of alcohol consumption influence the health of the population  as a whole, and that harmful drinking is among the  foremost underlying causes of disease, injury, violence, especially domestic violence against women and children, disability, social problems and premature deaths, is associated with mental ill- health, has a serious impact on human welfare affecting individuals, families, communities and  society as a whole, and contributes to social and health inequalities; 

  Emphasizing the risk of harm due to alcohol consumption  in the context of driving a vehicle, at the workplace and during pregnancy; 

1 Documents EB115/37 and EB115/37 Corr.1. 2 The world health report 2002. Reducing risks, promoting healthy life. Geneva, World Health Organization,   2002. EB115.R5 2 

  Alarmed by the extent of public health problems associated with harmful consumption of alcohol and  the trends in hazardous drinking, particularly among young people, in many Member States; 

  Recognizing that intoxication with alcohol is associated  with high-risk behaviours, including the   use of other psychoactive substances and unsafe sex; 

Concerned about the economic loss to society resulting from harmful alcohol consumption, including costs to the health services, social welfare and criminal justice systems, lost productivity and reduced economic development;

  Recognizing the threats posed to public health by the  factors which have given rise to increasing availability and accessibility of alcoholic beverages in some Member States; 

  
  Noting the growing body of evidence of the effectiveness of strategies and measures aimed at reducing alcohol-related 
harm; 

  Mindful that individuals should be empowered to make positive, life-changing decisions for themselves on matters such as consumption of alcohol, 1. 

REQUESTS Member States: 

  (1) to develop, implement and evaluate effective strategies and programmes for reducing the negative health and social consequences of harmful use of alcohol; 

  (2) to encourage mobilization and active and appropriate engagement of all concerned social and economic groups, including scientific, professional, nongovernmental and voluntary bodies, the private sector, civil society and industry associations, in reducing harmful use of alcohol; 

  (3) to support the work requested of the Director-General below including, if necessary,   through voluntary contributions by interested Member States; 

2. REQUESTS the Director-General: 

  (1) to strengthen the Secretariat's capacity to   provide support to Member States in monitoring alcohol-related harm and to reinforce the scientific   and empirical evidence of effectiveness of policies; 

  
(2) to intensify international cooperation in reducing public health problems caused by the harmful use of alcohol and to mobilize the necessary support at the global and regional levels; 

  (3) to produce a report on evidence-based    strategies and interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm, including a comprehensive assessment  of public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol, to be presented to the Sixtieth World Health Assembly; 

(4) to draw up recommendations for effective policies and interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm and to develop technical tools that will support Member States in implementing and evaluating the recommended strategies  and programmes;      EB115.R5 3 

  
  
(5) to strengthen global and regional information systems through further collection and analysis of data on alcohol consumption and its health and social consequences, providing technical support to Member States, and promoting research where such data are not available; 

  
(6) to promote and support global and regional activities aimed at identifying and managing alcohol-use disorders in health-care settings and enhancing the capacity of health- care professionals    to address problems in their patients associated with harmful patterns of alcohol consumption; 

  
  (7) to collaborate with Member States, intergovernmental organizations, health professionals, nongovernmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders to promote the implementation of effective policies and programmes to reduce harmful alcohol consumption; 

  
  
(8) to organize open consultations with  representatives of industry and agriculture and distributors of alcoholic  beverages in order to limit the health impact of harmful alcohol consumption; 

(9) to report through the Executive Board to the Sixtieth  World Health Assembly on progress made in the implementation of this resolution. Seventh meeting,                20 January 2005 EB115/SR/7