WHO/Europe highlights how alcohol undermines sustainable development across the WHO European Region
Photo by Adam Wilson
A new factsheet, “Alcohol consumption and sustainable development”, prepared by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, draws attention to the barriers alcohol consumption presents across the Region to achieving 13 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Drinking against development
SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. According to the WHO factsheet, current alcohol consumption levels in the Region and worldwide adversely impact 13 SDGs and a total of 52 targets in all three dimensions of the UN 2030 Agenda (economic, social and environmental). Impacts affect a range of health-related indicators, such as child health, infectious diseases and road injuries as well as broader indicators related to economic and social development, environment and equality.
The WHO European Region has the highest global level of alcohol consumption - 9.8 litres of pure alcohol per adult (15 years and older) per year against the backdrop of a global average of 6.4 litres. Alcohol consumption has a causal impact on more than 200 health conditions (diseases and injuries) and in the WHO European Region alone, alcohol use leads to almost one million deaths each year or about 2500 deaths every day. As well as having devastating impacts on communities, societal impacts include increased health-care and community costs, strained health services capacity and productivity losses.
Tackling alcohol-related harm: positive examples
To break this trend, WHO proposes a package of alcohol control measures that are still underused in the Region, and highlights positive examples of Member States’ experience.
“Alcohol use damages families, communities and wider society across the European Region. The good news is that we know, how to prevent these health risks. WHO and the Member States have already backed some really effective measures that can reduce alcohol consumption levels. To succeed now, we need stronger political support and commitment”, said Dr Nino Berdzuli, Director, Division of Country Health programmes, WHO Regional Office for Europe.
Alongside the new factsheet, WHO/Europe has also contributed a range of scientific publications to the special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) "Alcohol Control Policy and Health in Europe" (editors: Drs. Antoni Gual, Hospital Clinic Barcelona and Jürgen Rehm, Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH),Toronto). These include broader reviews of the current state of alcohol policy implementation in the WHO European Region and a more in-depth analysis of how the region is on track reaching the global 10% relative reduction target of harmful alcohol use thanks to the contribution of some countries where alcohol intake has declined substantially over the past years.
A detailed analysis of the current developments in Lithuania and the Russian Federation sheds more light on these trends and highlights how significant decreases in alcohol consumption and mortality and increases in life expectancy could be achieved after the introduction of alcohol control policies, recommended by the WHO.
An additional review of the provision of health warnings on alcoholic beverages in some central Asian and eastern European countries show examples of national and supranational legislative frameworks in the context of the newly formed Eurasian Economic Union. Such policies ensure that people know what they are consuming and are informed about the health risks just as in the case of tobacco health warnings, and that the same principle of “the right to be informed” which applies to any other products also applies to alcoholic beverages.
Effective policies for the whole Europe
Supporting Member States in developing, implementing and monitoring alcohol control policies, as part of comprehensive prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is integral to WHO’s European Programme of Work (EPW) 2020-2025. Addressing one of the biggest risk factors for the region and its development is key.
“The Sustainable Development agenda does not only have a specific indicator on the reduction of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (SDG target 3.4), but also as specific indicator on the use of alcohol and drugs (SDG target 3.5). This highlights the cross-cutting impact of alcohol on our lives and wellbeing. We have strong evidence that concrete policy measures can reduce alcohol consumption levels while remaining cost-effective. For instance, the WHO-recommended ‘Best Buys’ to raise alcohol taxes and limit availability and marketing of alcohol are powerful and cost-effective tools, but the regional implementation rate of these policies is very low, especially for pricing. This needs to change”, said Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, the Programme Manager for Alcohol, Illicit Drugs at the WHO European NCDs Office.
“Alcohol is no ordinary commodity. Policy makers of the entire WHO European Region need to come together to regulate alcohol more effectively, so as to reduce unnecessary suffering and deaths, as well as creating healthier and happier societies”.
