Oxford Academic Wants WHO to Adopt Framework Convention on Alcohol Control
A university lecturer in global health politics at the University of Oxford has called for the World Health Organization (WHO) to use a “vastly underused” mechanism, a legally binding framework convention requiring just a two-thirds vote, to address the health burdens and mortality purportedly attributed to alcohol consumption. In the February 16, 2012, issue of Nature journal, Devi Sridhar, D.Phil., points to WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as one of just two such treaties adopted in more than 60 years. These conventions impose legal requirements on member states, which commit to applying the agreement through national legislation and must report their progress to WHO.
According to Sridhar, “2.5 million deaths a years, almost 4% of all deaths worldwide, are attributed to alcohol—more than the number of deaths caused by HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria. Alcohol consumption is the world’s third-largest risk factor for health burden; in middle-income countries, which constitute almost half of the world’s population, it is the greatest risk.” She notes that the international community, under a framework convention, would share the responsibility of supporting alcohol control initiatives “by providing financial aid and technical assistance as needed. Informally, ministries of health would have a stronger domestic negotiating position in prioritizing alcohol regulation above economic concerns. Non-governmental organizations would be able to pressure governments, and even bring issues to court.”
Sridhar acknowledges that the effects of international law on domestic public health can be overstated, observing that minimal oversight and no strong enforcement mechanisms have made compliance with the tobacco control convention weak. Still, she recommends that the appointment of a commission on global health law headed by an independent expert to focus on strengthening WHO’s power and the adoption of a broad framework convention on global health could result in the proactive promotion of health throughout the world by the only body with the authority to do so.
