As part of national efforts to address NCDs countries need to give priority to implementing the Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol approved by the WHA in Geneva in May 2010 [43]. Particular attention should be given to implementing evidence-based strategies that have the potential to reduce the occurrence of heavy drinking episodes and the prevalence of alcohol use disorders that impact on NCDs. Such strategies are likely to include regulating the availability, price and marketing of alcohol, and improving the capacity of health services to support initiatives to screen for risk and conduct brief interventions for hazardous and harmful drinking at primary health care and other settings [6;44;45]. While there is less evidence to support the efficacy of health education on its own, it nonetheless does seem appropriate that alcohol consumers should be made aware of the risk associated with different levels of drinking and NCDs. Consumers should, for example, be informed that stopping or reducing alcohol consumption will reduce cancer risks, albeit slowly over time[46].
