Today, I have the honor and pleasure of participating in a meeting in New Delhi, India regarding “Promoting multistakeholder efforts towards shaping evidence informed Alcohol Policy in India and Sweden”.
This meeting is organised by joint efforts and thanks to the strong committment of both the Public Health Foundation of India (that – by the way – is proud member of the WHO Global Health Workforce Alliance) and the Swedish National Institute of Public Health (FHI). They are strongly supported by SIDA, the Swedish International Development Agency. Alcohol is no ordinary commodity, but an obstacle for development in all regions of the world.
Three fields are the topic for the meeting:
- Development of evidence based national alcohol policy
- Surveillance systems
- Developing sustainable public health practices within Health Care
Evidence based alcohol policies are, for example: higher prices for alcoholic beverages; ban of alcohol marketing;limited opening hours and outlet density of alcohol retailers; a high age-limit for alcohol use; and the creation and support of alcohol free environments – for people, especially youth, to thrive on freedom and creativity.
