Draft Programme

The 9th European Alcohol Policy Conference builds on the series of very successful European Alcohol Policy Conferences (Warsaw 2004, Helsinki 2006, Barcelona 2008, Brussels 2010, Stockholm 2012, Brussels 2014 and Ljubljana 2016). This edition of the 9th European Alcohol Policy Conference comes at a particularly critical time for alcohol policy, including some promising policy initiatives:

• The action plan (2022 – 2030) to effectively implement the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol should have been adopted at the WHA in May 2022.

• The WHO Euro launched the SAFER initiative early in 2021, committing to building a European Region free from alcohol related harm.

• A new version of the WHO Europe Framework for Alcohol should be published in 2022; The document creates an overarching frame for existing international instruments and documents.

• An opportunity to address alcohol related harms has presented itself with the European Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. Indeed, this EU initiative includes plan to introduce mandatory labelling of alcoholic beverages by 2022 and inclusion of health warnings by 2023 as well as plans for capacity building activities in the areas of EU legislation relating to the taxation of alcohol. It also provides for support to Member States in the implementation of evidence-based brief interventions on alcohol in primary health care, workplace and social services.

• In 2019, NORAD – Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation launched Better health Better Lives, a dedicated international development strategy to combat NCDS in LMICs. With a budget of $133 million (1.2 billion NOK) from 2020 to 2024, the strategy includes prevention that targets leading NCD risk factors including alcohol consumption.