Gauden Galea, from the WHO Regional Office for Europe, discusses Lithuania’s alcohol control policy as an example of successful collaboration between different stakeholders at a recent Copenhagen meeting – “Let’s Talk About Alcohol: WHO in Denmark Edition,” 6 March 2024
Photo credit: WHO Regional Office for Europe
From 2016, national awareness efforts included participation by the WHO Lithuania representative in national TV shows and press conferences with international experts. This heightened public consciousness played a role in shifting societal norms, making alcohol consumption less socially acceptable, and led to the launch of a research project in April 2020, assessing the impact of alcohol control policies in the Baltic states on health and economies. The Project was coordinated by the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases at the Health Research Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and aimed to equip national experts and decision-makers with the necessary knowledge and skills to gather data, identify and evaluate best practices, and assess the cost–effectiveness of alcohol control policies. WHO played a critical role by convening all the countries and experts to develop the grant proposal and by building capacity in alcohol research through a series of workshops.[12] Funded by the United States National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), this project generated original research on the public health impact of alcohol taxation, along the evaluation of other policy interventions. The research has contributed significantly to the development of an alcohol taxation signature initiative by WHO/Europe launched in Vilnius in 2022. [13] The main idea of the Signature Initiative is to promote a minimum tax share in prices of alcoholic beverages – a measure that is already in place for the tobacco and has shown to be effective in lowering smoking prevalence and rates of death and disease.[14][15]
“By consolidating political commitment, engaging NGOs, academia and with unwavering WHO support, Lithuania has made a substantial breakthrough in alcohol control. The country has implemented comprehensive evidence-based alcohol control measures including WHO ‘best buys’ and has succeeded in reducing alcohol consumption and related morbidity and mortality.”
-Ms Ingrida Zurlyte, Head of the WHO Country Office in Lithuania
Throughout its policy reform journey, the Lithuanian government diligently monitored the impact of its strategies, utilizing the global WHO monitoring framework, capturing data on alcohol consumption, associated harms, and policy effectiveness. The WHO Regional Office for Europe played a key role in leveraging evidence from the Baltic Alcohol Policy Project, offering vital technical support. Lithuania’s approach was characterized by dynamic collaboration with stakeholders, including WHO collaborating centres, academics, Member States representatives, technical experts, and NGOs, fostering a network that proven essential for feedback, capacity building and policy refinement. In May 2023, WHO hosted policy dialogues with the Baltic States to review the outcomes of their joint research and its policy implications, strengthening the collaborative effort and ensuring policy measures remained informed and effective.[16] The Project’s final conference is planned in 2025, which will review and summarize all the results and which will be co-hosted together with WHO/Europe and the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in Lithuania.
The journey to refining policies faced challenges, notably in 2022 when Lithuania’s Parliament (Seimas) Economic Committee debated repealing parts of the alcohol control policies, especially those limiting alcohol availability. Researchers, NGOs, and WHO countered with strong evidence of the policies’ success and economic advantages. Their united advocacy led to the committee’s decision to uphold all policies, highlighting the importance of evidence-informed policy making and protecting any progress made. Lithuania’s experience showcases the effectiveness of evidence-based alcohol control on public health, serving as a valuable blueprint for other nations, particularly within the EU, seeking to implement similar public health strategies.
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Publish date : 2024-07-11 04:54:55
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