At its meeting on 20 January 2004, the World Health Organisation Executive Board approved a draft resolution to be adopted by the World Health Assembly in May on 'Health Promotion and Healthy Lifestyles' which identifies alcohol as a priority for action.

This is the first time in 20 years that the issue of alcohol, in the contextof health promotion and healthy lifestyles, has been at the forefront of concern at WHO's highest executive. The relevant paragraph reads:

"Alcohol consumption raises complex issues. Some evidence attests to beneficial effects of moderate consumption of alcohol but, overwhelmingly, data show its high contribution to the global burden of disease through its damaging effects across all sectors of society as the direct or underlying cause of many illnesses and accidents, violence and impaired health. Young people are particularly likely to abuse alcohol. Special attention needs to be paid to the messages conveyed in information relating to alcohol, including marketing and advertising, in particular on the impact of alcohol on the health and well-being of young people."

Proposers of the draft resolution included Canada, China, Czech Republic,
Denmark and the Russian Federation.