The European Commission adopted a Communication at the end of October with the aim of defining an EU strategy for reducing the deleterious effects linked to the “harmful and dangerous consumption” of alcohol: a phenomenon that, according to the latest data from Brussels, annually causes, and not just in the European Union, the death of some 200,000 people (equivalent to 7.4% of all pathologies and premature deaths) out of a total of over 50 million citizens considered “dangerous consumers”. According to the Commissioner for Public Health and Consumer Protection Markos Kyprianou, the Executive does not intend to crack down on moderate consumption: it aims to curb “immoderate and continuous consumption before and after the age of majority, and the effects of driving under the influence of drink, especially among the young”. To curb abuses, the Communication identifies a series of priorities: protecting adolescents and children, reducing the number of drink-related road accidents, preventing the harmful effects of alcohol on adults and reducing its negative impact on the economy, making statistical research more reliable and raising the awareness of the population. The Commission – which also intends to fund existing national medical and information measures and campaigns – has confirmed the opening of an Alcohol and Health Forum by the summer of 2007.
