Your gateway to information about alcohol and drugs as a development issue.
World Health Organization to develop a global strategy to reduce alcohol related harm
In its session Thursday 22 May the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution that calls for the development of a global strategy to reduce harmful consumption of alcohol. The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance welcomes the decision.
Drinks industry supplanting government role in alcohol policies in Sub-Saharan Africa
In a number of Sub-Saharan countries the drinks industry has usurped a governmental role by designing national alcohol policies. Its motive is clearly to safeguard its own vested interests by directing the development of alcohol policies!
International expert meeting: Alcohol research must be protected from industry influence
To protect the integrity and legitimacy of alcohol research, there should be no funding relationship between the alcohol industry and the research community. This was the conclusion from an expert meeting in Dublin, 15-16 May, where experiences with the industry from Europe, the US and the South were presented.
Alcohol prevention on the agenda of the World Health Assembly
This week the World Health Assembly is in session at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. A resolution calling for a global strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm is on the agenda.
WHO Board adopts resolution calling for a global strategy
The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed on the 22nd of January a resolution that will be recommended to the World Health Assembly in May this year, asking for a global strategy on harmful use of alcohol.
UNODC calls for a comprehensive approach to drug problems
Some have perceived a contradiction between drug prevention and treatment on the one hand and efforts to reduce the negative health and social consequences of drug use on the other. However, in a new discussion paper, UNODC says that these are in fact complementary rather than contradictory.
WHO report:
Changing men's behaviour can improve women's health
By innovative and well designed programs it is possible to involve men in changing sexist, risky and violent behaviour. This is the conclusion of a WHO report which has reviewed 58 programs aimed at engaging men in changing male identity and behaviour.
Alcohol and HIV/AIDS - possible connections
Alcohol use and drunken behaviour is neither acknowledged nor well documented as a contributing factor to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This situation is now gradually changing. An increasing amount of research is being conducted on HIV/AIDS and alcohol, and the connections between the two are coming gradually clearer also from a scientific perspective.
New study on alcohol's role in chronic poverty in Uganda
Drinking into deeper poverty
An on-going study by the Development Research And Training in Uganda and the International Chronic Poverty Research Centre is exploring the links between excessive alcohol consumption and poverty. A first result is a Policy Brief aimed for a cross-section of development practitioners and policy makers.
New statistics presented: HIV prevalence has levelled off
New data show that global HIV prevalence - the number of people living with HIV - has levelled off. The number of new infections has fallen. This was the conclusion drawn by UNAIDS when new AIDS statistics were presented.
