A World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Problems
Related to Alcohol Consumption met in Geneva from 10 to 13 October
2006.
The meeting was opened by Dr B. Saraceno, Director, Department of
Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO headquarters, Geneva,
Switzerland, who noted that, since the adoption in 2005 by the Fiftyeighth
World Health Assembly of resolution WHA58.26 on “Public health
problems caused by harmful use of alcohol”, there had been intense
activity at the global and regional levels in WHO. In the WHO European
Region, the Framework for alcohol policy, building on the European
Alcohol Action Plan 2000–2005, had been endorsed and adopted at the
Regional Committee in September 2005; in the WHO Region of the
Americas the fi rst Pan American Conference on Alcohol Public Policies
had been held in Brasília, in November 2005; in the WHO African Region,
a WHO Technical Consultation on the Public Health Problems caused by
harmful use of alcohol in the African Region had taken place in May 2006;
in the WHO South-East Asia Region, a resolution on alcohol consumption
control policy options had been adopted by the Regional Committee in
August 2006; in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, the Regional
Committee had passed a resolution on the public health problems of alcohol
consumption in September 2006; and in the WHO Western Pacifi c Region,
a resolution had been passed in September 2006, endorsing the regional
strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm. At the global level, the WHO
Secretariat conducted several technical expert meetings and had started an
intensive consultative process with main stakeholders through organizing
several meetings and consultations with civil society groups, scientists and
representatives of the industry, trade and agricultural sector. Dr Saraceno
emphasized that the Committee's recommendations would be used by the
WHO Secretariat in the process of developing further activities to reduce
health and social problems attributable to alcohol consumption