Young India Network for Good Health

Expressing solidarity with people of Vietnam and supporting comprehensive alcohol policy solutions in open letter to Prime Minister, Health Minister, and National Assembly Chair To: H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam H.E. Vu Duc Dam, Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam H.E. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health H.E. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Chairwoman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam H.E. Nguyen Thuy Anh, Chairwoman, National Assembly Social Affairs Committee Your Excellency, It is our distinct honor and privilege to address You by way of this letter. We are the assembled delegates of the 69th Session of the IOGT International World Congress. Founded in 1851, IOGT International is today the largest global network for evidence- based policy solutions and community-based interventions to prevent and reduce alcohol harm. We, the delegates from more than 40 countries, are wri

“This is no quick fix. There is no band-aid big enough for this life.” ---Daniel Abbott, The Concrete The story of an 18-year-old Shubam is a classic example of what is happening to our youth today and an eye-opener for us, especially parents. Shubam was a sincere student and loved by all at home and school. He was the only child of doting parents, who put him in a leading school and provided him all facilities. A car ferried him to school and back, he had private tutors at home who helped him with his homework and his parents left no stone unturned to keep him happy. But they never spoke to him about various life skills and soft skills needed by the youth today. They never taught him how to be emotionally strong and assertive. They never spoke of peer pressure, drugs and good behaviour. They loved him, but hardly communicated all this to him because they did not know this was important. Shubam passed out of school with good grades and got admission in an Engineering college a