Authors: Peter Anderson, Antoni Gual and Joan Colom (PHEPA)

This trainning manual is one of the products of PHEPA (Primary Health Care European Project on Alcohol), which aims at the integration of health promotion interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption into primary health care professionals' daily clinical work.

Authors: Noemi Robles, Silvia Matrai, Vanesa Carral Bielsa, Joan Colom, Antoni Gual

Europe presents the highest rates of alcohol consumption per inhabitant, with an impact exceeding 6% of the DALYs lost. However, European researchers claim that most of the research in the alcohol field is conducted outside Europe. In order to assess this claim, a review of international indexed publications on alcohol marketing and availability, two cornerstones of alcohol public health policy, was performed.

Authors: Amy O'Donnell, Peter Anderson, Dorothy Newbury-Birch, Bernd Schulte, Christiane Schmidt, Jens Reimer and Eileen Kaner

As part of BISTAIRS, the aim of the study was to assess the cumulative evidence on the effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary healthcare in order to highlight key knowledge gaps for further research.

Author: WHO Regional Office for Europe

While the overall level of health across the WHO European Region has clearly improved, European health statistics show inequities within and between countries, according to the European health report 2012. The report is WHO/Europe’s flagship publication, issued every three years.

The report covers the Region’s 53 countries and nearly 900 million people, revealing that people are living longer and healthier lives. Life expectancy is rising across the Region, increasing by 5 years since 1980 to reach 76 years in 2010.

Author: WHO - Regional Office for Europe

People in the WHO European Region consume the most alcohol per head in the world. In the European Union (EU), alcohol accounts for about 120 000 premature deaths per year: 1 in 7 in men and 1 in 13 in women.

Most countries in the Region have adopted policies, strategies and plans to reduce alcohol-related harm. In 2012, the WHO Regional Office for Europe collected information on alcohol consumption and related harm, and countries policy responses to contribute to the Global Information System for Alcohol and Health; this report presented a selection of the results for 35 countries – EU Member States and candidate countries, Norway and Switzerland – individually and in groups distinguished by their drinking patterns and traditions.