Less Alcohol

Alcohol kills about 3 million people each year. The Less Alcohol Unit aims at tackling the determinants driving the acceptability, availability and affordability of alcohol consumption in the context of the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. 

Our team supports the design of policies and implementation of evidence-based and population-wide interventions that address cultural, social, political, economic and commercial determinants of alcohol consumption. We do this by working closely with the World Health Organization regional and country offices and with the support of a highly qualified network of experts. We also advocate for empowering individuals and communities and for creating healthier settings to prevent the harmful use of alcohol.

To tackle the multiple dimensions involved in alcohol consumption, we build collaboratives with civil society and academia to synthesize ground-breaking evidence for policymakers and advocate for actions across sectors. We also contribute to share innovative approaches for front-line practice to sustain population-wide interventions over time.

More than 200 health conditions, injuries, disabilities and death are attributed to alcohol consumption. Moreover, the harmful consumption of alcohol generates violence, unemployment, problems with the law, among many others. For these reasons, we work closely and coordinate interventions with other units in the World Health Organization headquarters.

The SAFER country snapshots on alcohol and health provide an overview of national alcohol consumption, its health burden, the current policy response and key opportunities for action. The snapshot was developed to accelerate progress on the implementation of the five high-impact SAFER interventions, in the context of the Global Alcohol Action Plan.