World Health Assembly Adopts Historic Global Alcohol Action Plan

  

Movendi International Makes Four Recommendations For the Way Forward

This is a historic day. Now we need bold action. We as  Nada India Foundation  civil society are ready to partner, support, and help advance alcohol policy as a catalyst for well-being and development for all. 

The 75th Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA75) has adopted a historic decision for the global response to the harm caused by the alcohol industry. WHA75 adopted the WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan unanimously and in doing so endorses a comprehensive plan with ambitious targets to accelerate action on alcohol as public health priority.

Movendi International has partnered with WHO Member States and civil society organizations to make alcohol policy the priority it should be, to bring alcohol policy back on the agenda of the World Health Organization’s governing bodies in order to improve the response to alcohol harm at all levels.

Movendi International President Kristína Šperková and Movendi International Vice President Pubudu Sumanasekara comment on the historic decision:

After an intense 4+ year advocacy campaign by Movendi International and our partners, we welcome and applaud the decision of the World Health Assembly to adopt the Global Alcohol Action Plan. After a lost decade for alcohol policy since 2010, the new WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan is a crucial and urgently needed milestone to make alcohol policy the priority it should be towards reaching health and development for all.

The World Health Assembly discussion highlighted again the importance WHO Member States assign to accelerating action on alcohol. The WHA75 decision was unanimously adopted after more than 40 statements, representing more than 110 countries addressed the need to make alcohol policy a public health priority.

There’s strong support for ambitious targets and for country action through the Alcohol Policy Best Buys and the SAFER alcohol policy blue print.

There’s a strong mandate for the World Health Organization to lead on accelerating alcohol policy action, provide technical capacity to countries, and continue to strengthen the evidence base.

And there’s a strong and reverberating call from countries to counter-act commercial drivers of alcohol use and harm, to better protect people and communities, especially children and youth, from the products and practices of Big Alcohol, and for the protection of alcohol policy against alcohol industry interference.

The new Global Alcohol Action Plan contains weaknesses and troubling elements that many statements pointed out. 

But the plan also contains promising elements with significant potential for the way forward:

1. Bold targets,
2. Ambitious action areas,
3. Focus on what has been proven to work best, such as alcohol taxation, banning advertising, and reducing alcohol availability, and
4. Improvements of the alcohol policy infrastructure at all levels.

Movendi International and our partners on the community level call for active involvement of civil society, especially community-based groups and youth organizations, to ensure the promise of this new action plan is translated into action and real, positive change for people, communities, and societies harmed by the products and practices of the alcohol industry.

We call for resourcing, accelerating, and regularly reviewing alcohol policy development and implementation. And we call for protections against alcohol industry interference.

This is a historic day. Now we need bold action. We as  Nada India Foundation  civil society (A member of Movendi International ) are ready to partner, support, and help advance alcohol policy as a catalyst for well-being and development for all.