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China begins long battle against boozing
By Marcus Grant |
December 13, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THIS year, the World Health Organization adopted the historic Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol.
Governments around the world are now taking stock of the toll of harmful drinking on public health, communities, and economies, and beginning the important work of implementing the strategy.
In China, the government has responded to the challenge of informing people about the importance of drinking responsibly and about the dangers of harmful drinking.
Authorities have seen success in their efforts with new deterrent legislation, with the Ministry of Public Security reporting a 37.5 percent drop in road crash fatalities attributed to drunk driving during the first half of 2010.
In addition, governments and non-governmental organizations are working with the international beverage alcohol producers who are sponsoring Global Actions on Harmful Drinking (www.global-actions.org).
This initiative is the result of a commitment by industry CEOs to make a significant effort to reduce harmful drinking in the 2010-2012 time frame.
One of the most promising aspects of the WHO Alcohol Strategy is its engagement of alcohol producers as part of the solution.
In the strategy, WHO not only says that developers, producers, distributors, marketers, and sellers of alcoholic beverages are important players, but specifically calls on alcohol companies to consider effective ways to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
This is a welcome call to action. As my co-editor and I say in the book, "Working Together to Reduce Harmful Drinking," alcohol producers are under no illusion that they are the most important players in developing balanced alcohol policies.
In many cultures, drinking has long been a part of adult life, and of celebration and communion with friends and family.
But alcohol producers and most people know all too well that drinking too much or in a harmful manner has the potential to cause damage, which is not good for long-term business any more than it is for society.
The people employed in the alcoholic beverage industry are parents and community members too, and they do not want to see alcohol misused in their families and communities.
The private sector has a wealth of information and resources to share from many years of work encouraging responsible drinking. Alcohol producers can share ideas and data on the range of feasible policy options and prevention and intervention programs.
Over the past 15 years in the work of the International Center for Alcohol Policies, funded by major international alcohol beverage producers, we have seen consistent evidence that one-size-fits-all policies are unrealistic.
Approaches with the best chance for success are those that offer a menu of options, rather than a prescriptive plan for all cultures and countries. We welcome the WHO strategy's portfolio of 10 recommended target areas, including drunk driving, the marketing of beverage alcohol, and illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol.
(The author is the president of the International Center for Alcohol Policies. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
Governments around the world are now taking stock of the toll of harmful drinking on public health, communities, and economies, and beginning the important work of implementing the strategy.
In China, the government has responded to the challenge of informing people about the importance of drinking responsibly and about the dangers of harmful drinking.
Authorities have seen success in their efforts with new deterrent legislation, with the Ministry of Public Security reporting a 37.5 percent drop in road crash fatalities attributed to drunk driving during the first half of 2010.
In addition, governments and non-governmental organizations are working with the international beverage alcohol producers who are sponsoring Global Actions on Harmful Drinking (www.global-actions.org).
This initiative is the result of a commitment by industry CEOs to make a significant effort to reduce harmful drinking in the 2010-2012 time frame.
One of the most promising aspects of the WHO Alcohol Strategy is its engagement of alcohol producers as part of the solution.
In the strategy, WHO not only says that developers, producers, distributors, marketers, and sellers of alcoholic beverages are important players, but specifically calls on alcohol companies to consider effective ways to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
This is a welcome call to action. As my co-editor and I say in the book, "Working Together to Reduce Harmful Drinking," alcohol producers are under no illusion that they are the most important players in developing balanced alcohol policies.
In many cultures, drinking has long been a part of adult life, and of celebration and communion with friends and family.
But alcohol producers and most people know all too well that drinking too much or in a harmful manner has the potential to cause damage, which is not good for long-term business any more than it is for society.
The people employed in the alcoholic beverage industry are parents and community members too, and they do not want to see alcohol misused in their families and communities.
The private sector has a wealth of information and resources to share from many years of work encouraging responsible drinking. Alcohol producers can share ideas and data on the range of feasible policy options and prevention and intervention programs.
Over the past 15 years in the work of the International Center for Alcohol Policies, funded by major international alcohol beverage producers, we have seen consistent evidence that one-size-fits-all policies are unrealistic.
Approaches with the best chance for success are those that offer a menu of options, rather than a prescriptive plan for all cultures and countries. We welcome the WHO strategy's portfolio of 10 recommended target areas, including drunk driving, the marketing of beverage alcohol, and illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol.
(The author is the president of the International Center for Alcohol Policies. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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