2nd Eurocare Bridging the Gap Conference in Helsinki: Alcohol Experts Bridging Gaps

The Eurocare Bridging the Gap conference, held in Helsinki in November, brought together alcohol experts, researchers, NGOs, policy makers and program implementers from across Europe. The common interest of the conference guests was to move forward on the alcohol agenda.

Public health expert Peter Anderson, one of the organizers of the conference, said: “Harmful alcohol use is something that affects all Europeans. Thus, we should have common policies. We need comprehensive policies that are implemented and supported at the EU, national, regional and local levels. At the EU level we can make decisions about advertising and taxation, whereas at the local level we can implement community-based programs.”

After three days of discussions and workshops, effective measures, such as adding warning labels on bottles of alcohol, restricting alcohol advertising and creating common laws for drink driving, were seen as key issues for tackling some of the problems.

The Helsinki conference brought the three-year program to an end yet the work is not finished. The program will continue under the name ‘Building Capacity'.

The programme and the presentations can be found on the Bridging the Gap website http://btg.health.fi