Global alcohol action plan 2022 -2030

The harmful use of alcohol causes approximately 3 million deaths every year and the overall burden of disease and injuries attributable to alcohol consumption remains unacceptably high. The pace of development and implementation of alcohol policies has been uneven in WHO regions, and resources and capacities for implementation of the WHO Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol 10 years after its endorsement do not correspond to the magnitude of the problems. On this basis, the WHO Executive Board in its decision  EB146 (14) called for accelerated action to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. 

The Board considered the report on the political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, particularly Annex 3, entitled “Implementation of the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol,” and the report on the findings of the consultative process on implementation of the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and the way forward.

The Board, in its decision EB146 (14),  requested  the WHO Director-General, inter alia, “to develop an action plan (2022-2030) to effectively implement the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol as a public health priority, in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, for consideration by the 75th World Health Assembly through the 150th session of the WHO Executive Board in 2022”, and “to develop a technical report on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotional activities, including targeting youth and adolescents, before the 150th session of the WHO Executive Board, which could contribute to the development of the action plan”,  as well as “to adequately resource the work on the harmful use of alcohol".

In response to decision EB146 (14), the WHO Secretariat will implement the following (last updated 12 January 2022):

• March - April 2020: Commissioning of  the scoping review on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotional activities, including targeting youth and adolescents.  Commissioning background papers for the report development. 
• ­April - May 2020: Producing a zero draft of the working document for development of an action plan (2022-2030) to effectively implement the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use with proposed essential elements and components.  
• ­June 2020: Technical expert meetings organized by WHO headquarters to discuss the zero draft of the working document for development of the action plan and the content of the technical report on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotional activities.  
• ­July - October 2020: Finalization of the  working document for subsequent consultation process.
• 16 November - 13 December 2020:  Web-based consultation on the working document for development of the action plan open to Member States, UN organizations and other international organizations, and non-State actors. All relevant feedback received will be published on WHO website. 
• ­January - April 2021: Regional technical consultations with Member States on the working document for development of the action plan (2022-2030). 
• May - June 2021: Development of the first draft of the action plan based on the input received on the working document in the process of the regional consultations.
• June - August 2021: Discussion of the first draft at the Third WHO Forum on alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviours attended by technical focal points from Member States, representatives of UN entities, civil society organizations, WHO collaborating centres, and academia. Consultation with economic operators in alcohol production and trade on their contribution to reducing the harmful use of alcohol within their core roles. 
• 26 July - 3 September 2021:  Web-based consultation on the first draft of the action plan open to Member States, UN organizations and other international organizations, and non-State actors. 
• August - October 2021: An informal consultation with Member States on the first draft of the action plan.  Development of the second draft of the action plan based on the feedback received on the first draft during the previous stages of the consultation process.  
• October - November 2021:  An informal consultation with  Member States  on the second draft of the action plan. Finalization of the draft action plan taking into consideration feedback and inputs received from Member States and other stakeholders during the consultation process in April -October 2021.  Development and submission of the report by the Secretariat to 150th session of the Executive Board. 
• January 2022: Posting of the report by the Secretariat and the draft action plan to 150th session of the Executive Board. Release of the technical report on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotional activities, including targeting youth and adolescents, with a summary of main findings and conclusions.  The Executive Board in its decision EB150(4) decided to recommend that the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly note the report and its annexes, and that it adopt the action plan (2022–2030) to effectively implement the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol as a public health priority.
• March - April 2022: Posting of the report by the Secretariat and the draft action plan to the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly (not posted since it is unchanged from the EB documentation, please see above) . Release of the full technical report on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotional activities, including targeting youth and adolescents.
• 22-28 May 2022: Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly. The World Health Assembly in decision WHA75(11) adopted the draft action plan. Download a pre-print version of the action plan. Final version of action plan is expected to be available in the end of August.