Indian Government urged to formulate National Alcohol Policy
Johnson Edayaranmula, Executive Director of the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance, reports on a two-day national consultative workshop of stakeholders on ‘Addressing Problems Related to Alcohol Use’ at New Delhi in May organised by the Indian Government’s Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD) in collaboration with the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance (IAPA).
In his inaugural address, renowned social activist Swami Agnivesh called for a concerted and united effort from the part of all Stakeholders towards addressing the problems related to alcohol use in the country. Both the Central and State Governments should recognize the importance of prevention and early intervention rather than disaster management.
Mr Chaitanya Murti, Director, NISD, welcoming participants said that the Workshop was the first of its kind to be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, exclusively addressing the topic of reducing the harms related to alcohol use and NISD was pleased to collaborate with the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance in organizing the event.
Dr S Arulrhaj, Chairman, IAPA and President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, highlighted the need to evolve a national policy in addressing the problems related to alcohol use.
Dr J S Thakur (Cluster Focal Point, WHO-India) appreciated the joint effort of NISD and IAPA in organizing the national consultative workshop and offered all technical support and cooperation from WHO for future endeavours.
Papers presented during the meeting showed that alcohol use in India has emerged as a major public health problem affecting the quality of life of individuals, families, communities and the nation. This was a result of the changing patterns and context of alcohol use. There was greater acceptability of drinking as a social norm. Rising numbers and increasing consumption among youth and women, earlier onset of drinking and a pattern of binge drinking had emerged. The workshop expressed concern over the rise in high risk behaviour; domestic violence, divorce, broken homes; families suffering from financial deprivation and poverty; and unsafe sex practices resulting in HIV.
India is projected as a market with huge potential for the Alcohol Industry resulting in an increased market presence of the industry with their undesirable marketing and promotional activities. India spends about 244 billion rupees each year to manage the direct cost of alcohol use, which is more than the excise earned. (WHO, 2006)
The workshop endorsed the WHO Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol. It affirmed that the Global Strategy provided guidance for action to set priority areas of policy options and measures for implementation at the National level, taking into account national circumstances, religious and cultural contexts, public health priorities, as well as resources, capacities and capabilities.
It urged the Government of India to adopt and implement the global strategy in order to complement and support public health policies and to mobilize political will and financial resources to reduce harmful use of alcohol. Effective solutions lay in sustainable action, requiring strong leadership, a solid base of awareness, political will and commitment. Public health strategies that seek to regulate the availability of alcohol; reducing the impacts of marketing, including surrogate advertisements, particularly to adolescents, young people and women; mobilising communities to adopt effective approaches to prevent and reduce harmful use of alcohol; reducing the public health harm and social consequences from alcohol intoxication and consumption of illicitly produced alcohol; pricing policies that can be used to reduce underage drinking, halt progression towards drinking large volumes of alcohol and/ or episodes of heavy drinking. Proactive role, capacity building and dissemination of best practices in Health services are vital to address the harm at individual level among those with alcohol use disorders and other health conditions caused by harmful use of alcohol. There was a need for National and State monitoring and surveillance systems in order to monitor the magnitude and trends of alcohol related harms and to strengthen advocacy, to formulate policies and to assess impact of interventions.
Mindful of the present realities, challenges and a lack of a national policy, the workshop made the following recommendations:
Urges the Government of India to formulate a National Alcohol Policy, which:
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