Gapa Bangkok consultation:
Alcohol in Asia - Foreward

The 2001 No 4 edition of The Globe was held over in order to report the papers which were presented from nine countries at the GAPA Asia/Pacific region consultation meeting. Participants were asked to prepare background papers on their national situation in relation to alcohol consumption and problems, together with illustrative material of the marketing tactics of the alcohol industry in their country.

GAPA wishes to acknowledge and thank the following for their support and participation: Professor Sally Casswell and Gayl Humphrey, Alcohol & Public Health Research Unit, University of Auckland; Dr Peter Anderson, Public Health Consultant, The Netherlands.

Sessional Chairperson: Anders A Aronsson, Chairman, International Institute of IOGT-NTO, Sweden; Mr M Idris, President, Consumer Association, Malaysia; Ms Bungon Ritthiphakdee, Director, Special Program Division (Tobacco and Alcohol), Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Thailand.

Participants: Cambodia: Dr Tuy Tanrathy and Dr Mom Kong. India: Monika Arora. Malaysia: Mary Assunta, Mohamed Azmi Abdul Hamid and Ahmad Shabrimi Mohd Sidek, Nepal: Ms Rupa Dhital. Philippines: Ms Joyce P Valbuena. South Korea: Mrs Kyung il Park. Sri Lanka: Ms Pamodini Wujayanayake and Mr Olcott Gunasekera. Thailand: Dr Sriwongse Havanonda and Dr Tairjing Siriphanich. Vietnam: Mr Nguyen Nam Vinh, Mr Do Viet Tinh, Mr Nguyen Hoang Mai and Mr Do Quang Hanh.

Observers: Dr Vijay Chandra, WHO SEARO; Åke Marcusson, Germany; Terje Heggerrnes and Øystein Bakke, Norway; Esbjörn Hörnberg, Sweden and Ticka Levonen, UK.

Special thanks are due to the International Institute of IOGT-NTO for the grant received from the Swedish Government's International Development Agency to finance the meeting; Institute of Alcohol Studies, London and the staff of IOGT Thailand for administration.