African Alcohol Policy Alliances with clear message to the African Union

Evidence-based alcohol policies and legislation must be adopted

The three regional alcohol policy alliances, consisting of national alcohol policy alliances in the regions, joined forces in an appeal to the AU heads to consider the evidence of the harmful impacts of alcohol use across the continent. The statement specifically stresses that:

• Alcohol is linked to 7 types of cancer
• Alcohol is linked to road traffic crashes
• Alcohol is linked to violence. 
• Alcohol causes foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
• Alcohol is no ordinary commodity.

In the statement SAAPA, EAAPA and WAAPA urge the AU "to encourage member states to adopt evidence-based alcohol policies and legislation to promote and protect the well-being of all their citizens against a giant global liquor industry set on increasing its profits at all costs". This is the only way to ensure achieving Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by world leaders for uplifting the well-being of citizens across the globe, the three alliances stressed in the statement. 

Review of the Global Alcohol Strategy in May 2020

The alliances requested that the Africa Member States play a critical and leading role in the discussions towards the review of WHO Global Alcohol Strategy at the World Health Assembly in May 2020 and beyond. One way of doing this is to to support the call for an International Mechanism for Alcohol Control to prevent and control alcohol harm,