“Given the growing manufacture of synthetic drugs, the control of chemicals known as precursors, has emerged as a key supply control strategy. This is because the traditional approaches, such as eradication of illicit crops and alternative development, cannot be applied to synthetic drugs”.

At a WHO/UNDP workshop in Namibia governments and NGOs were challenged to address alcohol-related harm, gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in an integrated manner. Nine African countries are now following up at national level.

Alcohol fits in everywhere. It is a risk factor in many of the important health and welfare issues of today; violence, including violence against women; non-communicable diseases as well as communicable diseases; mental health problems; injuries and accidents, said Dr. Vladimir Poznyak at a WHO/UNDP workshop

Following a comprehensive review, the trustees of the charity 'Comic Relief' have announced that they will no longer make investments in alcohol, tobacco and arm. The charity came under criticism last year after BBC's Panorama revealed it had invested in sectors which appeared to contradict the core values of the charity.

Worldwide, 3.3 million deaths in 2012 were due to harmful use of alcohol, says a new report launched by WHO in Geneva on the 12^th of May. The report confirms that harmful use of alcohol makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia.

Sonke Gender Justice, a South African NGO, has produced thee short documentaries chronicling the lives of three young men who , among other things, reflect on issues around alcohol and masculinity. Now they are peer educators for Sonke.