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DAILY UPDATE
DAY TWO
Tuesday 5 April 2011
‘ALCOHOL IS THE BIGGEST HARM REDUC-
TION ISSUE ON THE PLANET,’
said John Hedge,
chairing yesterday’s session on reducing alcohol
harm. Four speakers gave perspectives from
different countries.
Nepal was experiencing escalating alcohol
problems, said Hom Lal Shrestha (pictured). Public
health policies were being hampered by lack of
state commitment and interference from multi-
national companies. Among the challenges were
that large events were sponsored by the alcohol
industry, glamourising its use faster than public
health programmes could be implemented, and he
called on support from WHO Global Alcohol Policy.
Robert Power of Burnett Institute, Melbourne,
highlighted escalating issues in the Pacific region,
which had been virtually alcohol free 20 years ago.
Domestic violence towards women and children
was now commonplace, with long drinking
sessions taking place regularly.
People responded readily to the promotion ‘big
pla spak, lik lik money’, meaning ‘you can get very
drunk for very little money’, he said. Strong home
brewed alcohol was a particular problem and had
added to the culture of intoxication, which went
hand in hand with acceptance of violence. Drug and
alcohol use was identified as a trigger in 14 per cent
of all incidents resulting in a hospital visit.
The Pacific Region was seriously off track to
achieve Millennium Development goals by 2015,
said Mr Power. ‘Large investments are not leading
to better outcomes.’
Bangorn Sirirojn explained problems of
underage drinking in Thailand, which had tripled
over the last 14 years to become the fifth highest
alcohol consumption per capita in the world.
The Thai government had introduced laws to
restrict availability and promotion and a study had
been carried out to look at the way young people
were drinking and the relation to their sexual risk
behaviours. Drinking venues, which often featured
alcohol promotion girls, were seen as places for
casual encounters, where people drank to get drunk.
Sanji Gunasekara, a senior advisor of the New
Zealand Drug Foundation, talked about the risks
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) could have on
health. They were in danger of promoting
aggressive consumerism, he warned, which was
not helpful in the case of alcohol and tobacco.
‘Trade liberalisation is a vehicle for industry to
expand their global footprint into developing
countries,’ he said. ‘They are glamourising alcohol
in the developing world… ‘local’ brands are owned
by global corporations, which tap into local culture.’
Smaller countries battle against
the mighty alcohol industry
HIGHLIGHTS
Tuesday 5 April
MAJOR SESSIONS
11.00 – 12.30
Banquet Hall 3
Young People want better
drug policies. Don’t you?
A panel discussion on drug
policies, harm reduction services
and young people.
Banquet Hall 1 & 2
Building a women-centred
harm reduction response
Partnership working and a look at the
women’s harm reduction movement.
Banquet Hall 4
Developing harm reduction
interventions in prisons in
Middle East and North Africa
Experiences relating to HIV preven-
tion, care, treatment and support.
14.00-15.30
Banquet Hall 1 & 2
Sex work – the police,
policies and the law
Challenging prostitution laws,
cooperating with police, and the
impact of HIV on sex workers.
16.00-17.30
Banquet Hall 1 & 2
Reducing harm for women:
policies and ethics.
Safe motherhood, and a look at
risks, rights and evidence.
DIALOGUE SPACE
13.30
: Equity, human rights and the
Global Fund.
15.00
: Meet the drug user activists.
DEMONSTRATION AREA
10.30-11.30
: Female condoms.
13.00-13.30
: Crack and cocaine
harm reduction.