WHO Urges Faster Action as Alcohol Causes 2.6 Million Deaths a Year

Launched during the 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases, the SAFER initiative has become WHO’s leading framework for reducing alcohol harm.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for stronger global action to reduce alcohol-related harm, warning that alcohol continues to claim an estimated 2.6 million lives every year despite being one of the world's most preventable public health threats. A new WHO report shows that many countries are turning policy commitments into practical action through the SAFER initiative, while stressing that much more needs to be done to protect lives and strengthen public health.

Launched during the 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases, the SAFER initiative has become WHO's leading framework for reducing alcohol harm. The programme focuses on five proven policy measures: restricting alcohol availability, strengthening drink-driving countermeasures, expanding screening and treatment services, limiting alcohol marketing, and increasing prices through taxation. The report explains that countries are increasingly adapting these measures to suit their own health systems and local communities, creating stronger links between national policies and on-the-ground implementation.

Countries Expand National and Community Responses

Uganda has emerged as one of the strongest examples of national implementation after becoming the first country to adopt SAFER as a nationwide platform. The country integrated alcohol screening, brief intervention and referral services into primary healthcare while supporting reforms to its Excise Duty Acts, strengthening both prevention and treatment efforts.

Nepal has also made significant progress after its Supreme Court upheld the country's ban on alcohol advertising. A new federal directive now requires local governments across the country to implement alcohol and tobacco control measures, giving communities a larger role in protecting public health.

The report also highlights growing momentum at the local level. Ireland's Building SAFER Communities programme, launched in 2024, links the country's Public Health (Alcohol) Act with practical action across 10 communities serving around 190,000 people. Local steering groups work alongside community members to develop action plans that address local challenges while receiving university-level training and support through the i-Mark standard, which protects decision-making from alcohol industry influence.

Similar community-based programmes are expanding elsewhere. Thailand's SAFER Province Project is testing governance and enforcement models across five pilot provinces, while Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom has adopted SAFER as the foundation of its alcohol harm strategy for 2025–2030. WHO says these examples show that strong national legislation delivers the greatest benefits when supported by local leadership, sustained engagement and community ownership.

Regional Cooperation Builds Momentum Despite Challenges

Regional collaboration has also expanded across WHO's global network. In the African Region, peer-learning activities grew from seven participating countries in 2023 to 15 by 2025. The South-East Asia Region has supported five Member States in developing national implementation plans, while all 53 countries in the European Region unanimously endorsed the WHO European Framework for Action on Alcohol, placing SAFER at the centre of regional alcohol policy.

In the Region of the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization has strengthened capacity-building programmes and trained nearly 4,800 participants. The Western Pacific Region became the first WHO region to officially adopt SAFER as its organizing framework for regional cooperation in October 2025.

At the end of 2024, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote to leaders of several UN agencies, encouraging stronger action to reduce alcohol harm. Agencies are now working through the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (UNIATF) to develop a model UN policy that addresses alcohol-related harm and protects public health policies from commercial influence.

Despite encouraging progress, WHO says major obstacles remain. A UNIATF review found that only nine of 135 United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks introduced between 2020 and 2023 identified alcohol policy as a priority. Limited funding, fragmented governance, weak monitoring systems and continued industry interference continue to slow implementation in many countries.

WHO believes alcohol-related harm is not unavoidable and says stronger governance, better financing, improved enforcement and reliable monitoring can help countries reduce road crashes, hospital admissions, violence and other health problems linked to alcohol use. The next phase of the SAFER initiative will focus on embedding these policies into national systems while ensuring that the benefits reach families and communities most affected by alcohol-related harm.