Eight out of the 10 countries with the highest alcohol consumption in the world are located in the European Union (EU), for which the EU is paying a very high price in the form of alcohol-attributable injuries, cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other noncommunicable diseases.
Almost 300 000 people die each year in the EU because of alcohol. Yet many people do not have access to accurate and trustworthy information about alcohol and its impact on the health of individuals, families and communities, as well as that of the planet.
WHO/Europe is launching the Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION) to bring scientific evidence to promote and support the implementation of effective alcohol policies for the communities of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Ukraine.
EVID-ACTION’s major priorities for action include:
- disseminating the best available evidence on policy options to reduce alcohol consumption and harms;
- expanding health literacy and public knowledge of the harms of alcohol, including the link between alcohol and cancer;
- improving labelling provisions for alcoholic beverages;
- expanding screening and brief interventions related to alcohol use in different settings; and
- taking forward priority actions of the European framework for action on alcohol, 2022–2025, which Member States adopted at the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe.