As part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the European Union (EU) aims to reduce harms due to alcohol consumption in 30 Member States (the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Ukraine) through collaboration, coordination and support from WHO/Europe in the WHO–EU Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION).
Through EVID-ACTION, WHO/Europe works closely with Member State focal points on alcohol control to improve their technical capabilities in reducing harms due to alcohol consumption and to increase public awareness of the risks associated with alcohol consumption, including cancer.
To foster continued collaboration, WHO/Europe will gather the focal points at a meeting from 21 to 22 October 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition to strengthening relations between the focal points, the meeting will:
- build mutual understanding regarding needs, uses and expectations in relation to the data collection carried out regularly by WHO; and
- provide a forum for discussing the European Framework for Action on Alcohol 2022–2025, the data required to evaluate progress on its implementation, and participants' experiences with the Framework, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses in supporting the development and adoption of alcohol policies.
In a first-of-its-kind approach, the programme of the meeting will be designed jointly by the EVID-ACTION team and 3 focal points who have responded to the call to collaborate in developing content that reflects the immediate needs and interests of participants.
The working language of the meeting will be English.