Fact Sheets & Infographics

5 Alcohol Prevention Strategies

Boosting Sustainable Development And Global Health

Integrated and comprehensive alcohol prevention is cost-effective and high-impact in boosting both sustainable development as well as global health and well-being.

Combining evidence-based population-level policy measures with four other complementary interventions in an integrated manner is a powerful approach to preventing and reducing harm caused by alcohol.

These measures are:

1. To implement the three alcohol policy best buys
2. To raise awareness and recognition of alcohol’s real harm
3. To enable treatment and foster recovery from alcohol use disorders
4. To counter-act the economic forces that promote alcohol consumption
5. To shatter the pervasive and harmful alcohol norm, maintain abstention rates and encourage an alcohol-free lifestyle

Combining population-level policy measures with efforts to counter-act and curb the alcohol industry and integrating interventions that make treatment and rehabilitation services available fro all who need them, as well as providing compelling information and awareness raising about alcohol’s real harm and campaigns to shatter the harmful alcohol norm holds the biggest potential for sustainable outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Major obstacle to sustainable development

 

Alcohol is a massive obstacle to development. It is a hindrance for achieving 13 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 52 of 169 targets.

But evidence-based alcohol policy measures, such as the 3 Best Buys, are proven to be cost-effective preventing and reducing alcohol harm – and are thus drivers of development, health, social justice and economic prosperity.

The benefits of alcohol taxation across the SDGs

 

Alcohol Taxation Benefits – A Win-Win-Win Measure

Alcohol taxation is a triple win measure for global health and sustainable development. Alcohol taxation holds massive potential for global health, for helping achieve the sustainable development goals and also for significantly contributing to financing health and development. The most cost-effective measures to prevent and address alcohol harm remain price interventions especially through taxation.

Implementing alcohol taxation measures reaps a triple positive effect:

Domestic resource mobilization

• Generate government revenue for nancing development and health promotion

Easing the public health and sustainable development burden

• Reduce alcohol-related harms and alcohol’s overall public health, social and economic burden

Prevention of initiation of alcohol use

• Maintain high-levels of alcohol abstention rates in low- and middle income countries

EU: Comparing alcohol costs with annual budget

 

Infographic on the comparison of the EU Budget for Spending 2014-2020 and Costs for Alcohol Harm in the EU, per year.

Alcohol use causes tremendous suffering to individuals, families, communities and societies. The EU is the heaviest alcohol consuming region in the world. Alcohol harm has a negative impact on the economy, as illustrated by this comparison.

All dressed-up and nowhere to go – The importance of public space for youth and women

Alcohol is a major obstacle to sustainable urban development. This fact sheet explains how the pervasive presence of alcohol makes public spaces less safe, less inclusive, less enabling and less diverse. Especially youth and women are excluded from life happening in the public realm because of alcohol-induced risks.

The fact sheet provides evidence for which solutions are effective to foster change: Promoting safe, inclusive, enabling and diverse public spaces to help build healthy cities for sustainable development – through evidence-based alcohol policy measures.

Gender-based violence and alcohol: prevalence and economic impact

Alcohol is a major risk factor for gender-based violence, and its different forms. Up to 80% of gender-based violence can be alcohol-related. This fact sheet provides facts from countries around the world, addressing different types of alcohol-related violence against women and its prevalence, as well as its economic costs.

Alcohol harm in European children and young people

 

Young Europeans suffer disproportionately from alcohol harm. This fact compilation presents data on alcohol harm on societal level, in young European, and in children. It also present Europeans’ attitudes to alcohol policy and offers a list of prevention measures to better protect children, adolescents and youth in Europe.

The fact compilation has been put together by our European youth network Active.