GAPA Chairman receives “Lifetime Achievement Award”

The Fourth National Conference on Alcohol organised by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation took place in Bangkok in December 2008. Over 900 delegates attended from Thailand together with a number of international guests. A special award from the Royal Thai Government was given to Derek Rutherford.

We print below the citation given by Professor Udomsilp Srisangnam in presenting the award.

“It is indeed a great pleasure and honour for me to present the laudation of Mr Derek Rutherford as the recipient of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Royal Thai Government.

Mr Rutherford was born on 15 August 1939. He is a graduate of Leeds and London Universities. He taught for 7 years in Grammar Schools and left teaching in 1969 to found and direct the work of the Teachers Advisory Council on Alcohol and Drug Education (TACADE). It was during this period that he attended his first international conference organised by the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions.

In 1973 he was appointed Director of the National Council on Alcoholism (NCA). The Department of Health commissioned the NCA to establish a network of alcohol information centres throughout England and Wales. By the time he left in 1982 a network of 40 information centres had been established: the training of voluntary alcohol counsellors was established, and alcohol and workplace programmes were developed among trade unions, industry and commerce.

From 1975 to 1979, he was a Member of the UK Government’s Advisory Committee on Alcoholism.

In 1982 he helped establish and was co-Director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, an independent body for the promotion of evidence-based alcohol control policies, in London. The need for the development of both regional and international alliances for the promotion of alcohol policies was recognised.

In 1989 EUROCARE (the European Alcohol Policy Alliance) was founded. Mr Rutherford served as honorary secretary until 2006. A close link with the WHO European Alcohol Action Plan initiated in 1992 has been maintained.

The EU Commission in 1994 funded a Eurocare three-year project to establish a network of advocacy groups and train advocates in the promotion of alcohol policies. Eurocare and the Institute of Alcohol Studies were deeply involved in the development of the European Union’s Alcohol Policy Strategy. Acknowledgment of its role is confirmed by the European Court of Auditors’ evaluation of the Eurocare project:

“In the consultations for the alcohol strategy, the NGO network Eurocare acted as a counterbalance to the drink industry. More generally, the NGOs’ role in this field is to bring the executive’s view (pro-health) to the public and defend it against industry. The Commission succeeds better with this strategy than most Member States governments.” (European Court of Auditors Febrary 2008).

Serving as International Secretary of IOGT International from 1990 to 2002, Mr Rutherford, together with the support of the Marin Institute USA, organized in 2000 an International Conference in Syracuse to establish the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance. Since then the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance has been launched. With the support of Thai Health Promotion Foundation and Social and Health Outcome Research and Evaluation or SHORE at the University of Auckland, the Asia Pacific Alcohol Policy Alliance has been established.

Recently this year, there has seen the launch of the Alcohol Policy Youth Network in Europe with the membership of 28 National Youth Councils and the establishment of the Nigerian Alcohol Policy Youth Network.

These are his contributions at an international level. For Thailand, just to name a few, Mr Rutherford has provided commitment and continuous support to the development of alcohol control policy in our country. He came to Thailand in 2002 giving us an alert on the alcohol problems and raised concerns in dealing with the issue. He linked Thailand with a global community. He has given us all possible assistance in promoting the Thai Alcohol Control Act.

Therefore, the Royal Thai Government in partnership with Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the Centre for Alcohol Study have great honour in proposing the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Mr Rutherford in recognition of his dedication and notable achievements in the development and advocacy of global alcohol control policies. Mr Rutherford is indeed the role model to all civil societies in the world in curbing alcohol problems and its related harms.

On behalf of the Thai people, I wish to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to his contribution to the Thai Society. May I now invite you all to join me in congratulating him on this very special occasion.”