Brussels, 07/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 7 June, more than 40 businesses and non-governmental organisations, responding to a European Commission initiative, set up a new forum dedicated to alcohol and health issues. The Alcohol and Health Forum, scheduled to meet twice a year, will focus especially on concrete actions to protect children and young people, and to prevent irresponsible commercial alcohol communication and sales. It is estimated that 200,000 Europeans die every year as a result of alcohol abuse.
At the signing of the Charter establishing the Forum, European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said, “My expectations for this Forum are high, as they need to be given the health challenge posed by alcohol related harm. In particular I expect the alcoholic beverages industry to market their products responsibly. The media, advertisers, retailers, as well as owners of pubs and bars should also contribute to changing attitudes and behaviours, especially among young people. We simply cannot afford to see so many young European lives being wasted every year because of the inappropriate use of alcohol”.
On October 24 2006, the European Commission adopted a communication setting out an EU strategy to support member states in reducing alcohol related harm. The priorities identified in the communication were: to protect young people and children; to reduce injuries and deaths from alcohol-related road accidents; to prevent harm among adults and reduce the negative impact on the economy; to raise awareness of the impact on health of harmful alcohol consumption; and to help gather reliable statistics. The Commission identified areas where the EU can support member states' actions to reduce alcohol-related harm, such as financing projects through public health and research programmes, exchanging good practice on issues such as curbing under-age drinking, and exploring cooperation in the field of information or tackling drink-driving and other Community initiatives.
The Charter establishing the European Alcohol Health Forum can be found at: http: //ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/alcohol_charter_en.htm (oj)