New Initiative Launches to Address Neglected Global Health Crisis of Alcohol Harms

$15 million philanthropic award doubles existing global funding; RESET Alcohol will work in fifteen countries primarily in Latin America, Africa, Asia

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcohol consumption is a top-ten driver of death, illness and injury, with wide-ranging social and economic harms. Many of the harms related to alcohol disproportionately affect young adults, and surveys from multiple countries suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic has further increased drinking. Today, Vital Strategies announced RESET Alcohol – a groundbreaking new $15 million initiative to reduce alcohol-related harms in hard-hit countries through policy change.

Public health work on alcohol is vastly underfunded relative to the issue's burden, and the philanthropic award that founds RESET Alcohol roughly doubles existing global funding. Over three years, the initiative will support 15 or more countries to develop policies including raising the price of alcohol via taxation, regulating availability, and restricting alcohol marketing.

"Every year, alcohol use cuts millions of lives short and causes even more widespread suffering," said Adam Karpati, Senior Vice President, Public Health Programs at Vital Strategies. "The onus can't be on individuals. We must reset from an environment where the alcohol industry is empowered to push alcohol into nearly every aspect of our lives, including schools, sports, and media. We need policies that protect kids, make healthy choices the easy choices, and check industry's influence. RESET Alcohol will do just that through strong partnerships with government and civil society leaders who are committed to action."

RESET Alcohol is a collaboration of six global organizations: Vital Strategies, which is leading the initiative; Movendi International; the University of Illinois Chicago; the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA); the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Alliance; and World Health Organization (WHO). RESET Alcohol will support countries, primarily in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, with an emphasis on high-population, high-burden countries. RESET Alcohol's approach builds on partners' success in similar consortia addressing tobacco and other harmful commodities, including contributing to 18.5% relative reduction in tobacco use in Bangladesh (2009-17) and 17% in India (2010-17).

Per capita alcohol consumption among drinkers has increased in nearly all regions of the world consistently since 2005. Alcohol consumption is related to more than 60 different conditions, including cancers, heart disease, liver disease, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS; injuries and trauma including suicide, homicide, assault, falls, intimate partner violence, and vehicle crashes. Alcohol consumption is also associated with adverse economic impacts, from medical care costs to lost productivity.

"Failure to act has led to millions of preventable deaths and suffering from alcohol," said Jacqui Drope, Director, RESET Alcohol. "It's time governments treat it like the public health crisis that it is. When governments take up policies proven to reduce alcohol-related harms, population health and economies will benefit."

RESET Alcohol's objective is to advance policies as recommended by the World Health Organization's Global Alcohol Action Plan and the SAFER technical package, especially taxes on alcohol and regulations on marketing and availability. RESET Alcohol will provide technical support to governments, improve national research and data collection, resource advocacy for policy change, and mount communications campaigns.

"For governments, tax increases on alcohol are a win-win, especially given the sluggish global economy," said Jeffrey Drope, Research Professor at UIC. "Effective alcohol taxation reduces affordability, consumption and alcohol related disease and premature death. This means lower health care costs and increased productivity from a healthier population. Taxes also create revenue for governments to fund health programs or other social priorities."

Funding for RESET Alcohol was awarded via a grant directed to Vital Strategies from GiveWell, a nonprofit dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities and publishing the full details of its analysis to help donors decide where to give. GiveWell recommends high-impact, cost-effective charities backed by evidence and rigorous analysis.

"Alcohol is a major obstacle to development," said Kristína Šperková, President, Movendi International. "It's not only an obvious health crisis but also a major social justice issue. RESET Alcohol can support governments in advancing proven alcohol policy solutions, which will protect millions of people from harm caused by alcohol companies and promote the health of the most neglected and marginalized people and communities."

"Science-based policies independent of commercial interests are key to reduce harm from alcohol worldwide," said Sally Casswell, Chairperson at Global Alcohol Policy Alliance. "We look forward to supporting the adaptation of best practice policies to new countries around the world and learning about local innovations. We are honored to be a part of RESET Alcohol and its promising mission to see millions of fewer deaths and injury from alcohol."

"We urgently need a public health reset with smart policies to get death and disease caused by alcohol under control", said Katie Dain, CEO of the NCD Alliance. "We are proud to be part of RESET Alcohol, working to bring communities, national governments, and research partners together to drive change through alcohol policies that count."

Learn more about RESET Alcohol here: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/programs/alcohol-policy/

RESET Alcohol brings together national governments, civil society, and global leaders to advance policies from the World Health Organization's SAFER package for reducing the health, social and economic harms of alcohol. RESET Alcohol activities include financial and technical support to governments, civil society organizations, and technical policy institutions. The initiative is led by Vital Strategies in collaboration with Movendi International; The Tobacconomics Team, based at the University of Illinois Chicago; Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA); The NCD Alliance; and World Health Organization (WHO).

To learn more visit: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/programs/alcohol-policy/

Vital Strategies: www.vitalstrategies.org
Movendi International: www.movendi.ngo
Tobacconomics: https://tobacconomics.org
GAPA: www.globalgapa.org
NCD Alliance: https://ncdalliance.org
WHO led Global SAFER initiative: https://www.who.int/initiatives/SAFER

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