WHO is urged to exclude alcohol industry from talks on reducing harms

A group of public health professionals from around the world is urging the World Health Organization to stop the alcohol industry influencing its strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol.

The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance has issued a “statement of concern” to WHO.1 It warns that a commitment issued by 13 of the world’s largest alcohol producers last October to tackle harmful drinking misinterpreted the role of the drinks industry in WHO’s alcohol strategy.

The alliance quotes the International Center for Alcohol Policies, a body funded by the drinks industry, which said that WHO’s global strategy had “legitimated industry’s ongoing efforts and has opened the door to the inclusion of producers as equal stakeholders.”

However, the alliance said that this misinterpreted the role of …