Proposed “World No Alcohol Day”
Nov 14th, 2014
Mahatma Gandhi
India’s proposal to the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish the 2nd of October as World No Alcohol Day has support from all eleven South-East Asian countries, and has been accepted by the WHO assembly earlier this year, around May. The day is also Gandhi’s birthday.
The proposal came on a day when all 193 WHO member countries signed a resolution to reduce alcohol-related harm. WHO will now spend the next two years developing a global alcohol strategy.
Member states also drew attention to the links between alcohol and domestic violence, the risks to pregnant women, and road safety. WHO estimates that alcohol is responsible for about 4% of deaths each year.
India, where the average age of alcohol consumption has fallen by nearly nine years over the past decade, is also in the process of formulating and launching the country’s first national policy against alcohol.
The recognition of the day will go to a final vote by the Assembly’s Executive Board in January 2009.