India’s alcohol consumption is increasing by 10-15 per cent per year, and among drinkers binge drinking is the dominating pattern. India is now one of the key emerging markets for the global spirits  industry.

The global exposure of young people to alcohol marketing requires an urgent policy response. Engagement by NGOs and governments independent from commercial interests is needed. This is the conclusion of Professor Sally Casswell in an article in the journal Addiction.

Urgent action is needed to prevent more children from acquiring disorders due to mother’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy. This is the appeal from the first international conference on prevention of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, held in Edmonton, AB, Canada, on Sept 23—25, 2013.

Tanzania has experienced the same increasing problem with hard liquor sold in plastic sachets as a number of other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Tanzanian situation was presented by Dr Gerry Mshana in a STRIVE Learning Lab recently. Dr. Mshana focused on the effect of macro-economic factors such as pricing and packaging on alcohol drinking norms among young people.

In its Call for Action to the Commission on the Status of Women in 2013, the global MenEngage alliance defined policies to decrease alcohol consumption as one of ten priority areas of action to reduce violence against women.

Remarkable progress has been made over the last decade—yet significant challenges remain. This is the conclusion UNAIDS draws from the latest statistics over the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Their new report “AIDS by the numbers” says that there has been a reduction of 33% in new HIV infections since 2001.