Alcohol in Europe - a Health Perspective [antikvár]

As part of its Health Policy for Europe, the Régiónál Office for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1984 set 38 targets for the achievement of health for all (HFA). Many of these relate to the promotion of healthy lifestyles. One of these targets - targetl7 - calls for the health-damaging consumption of alcohol, tobacco and psychoactive substances to be significantly reduced between 1980 and the year 2000. With regard to alcohol it is suggested that consumption be reduced by 25% with particular attention to reducing harmful use. A variety of initiatives have been undertaken by WHO and its Member States in pursuit of the alcohol aspect of target 17. One of the most significant was in September 1992, when, at the forty-second session of the World Health Assembly, the European Alcohol Action Plan (EAAP) was endorsed and the Member States committed themselves to follow a set of guiding principles on this issue. The role of the Régiónál Office was outlined in the Action Plan and that role included dissemination of information and promotion of research. This publication, Alcohol in Europe - a Health Perspective, has been produced as part of that brief. The Régiónál Office's role in pursuit of Health for All involves monitoring of progress towards the achievement of the targets. A pivotal publication in this process is Health in Europe which provides an overview of progress across the main target areas. Its breadth of coverage makes it difficult to include the level of detail desirable for those concerned with the implementation of specific targets. To supplement the wide angle perspective of Health in Europe, the Régiónál Office in recent years has been producing more detailed monitoring publications on specific targets. In this context the Office has already, in the early 1990s, produced European summaries on alcohol and on drugs, and in early 1996 plans to produce a comprehensive up-to-date European Summary on Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco which will contain a profilé of each Member State in relation to each of the three substance areas as well as an overview of the situation in the region as a whole. The occasion of the conference "Health, Society and Alcohol" in December 1995 has given additional impetus to WHO-Euro's role in the aspec t of the European Alcohol Action Plan concerned with information dissemination and promotion of research. A booklet series on specific topics ranging from the economics of alcohol policy to treatment approaches to alcohol is being published in the context of the conference. A comprehensive review, Alcohol Policy and the Public Good, was published in late 1994 and presents the research evidence for the effectiveness of various policy options for minimizing alcohol-related harm. This current book, Alcohol in Europe - a Health Perspective, seeks to bring together in one publication a number of aspects of the alcohol situation in Europe of relevance to policy makers and indeed to the concerned public. Chapter two on alcohol consumption and health outlines the research evidence for the influence of alcohol consumption on