Global Trends in Alcohol Control Policies Between 2010–2019

TL;DR

This study tracks global alcohol control policy trends from 2010 to 2019, showing increased preparedness but uneven progress across countries.

Contribution

The study updates the Alcohol Preparedness Index and analyzes global policy trends using WHO data from 2010–2019.

Findings

Fewer than 25% of countries had strong national alcohol plans in 2019.

Production/pricing/taxation policies improved the most, with adoption rising from 27% to 78%.

Larger populations were associated with less improvement in alcohol policy preparedness.

Abstract

Alcohol is a leading global risk factor, over 200 diseases and injuries, but policy adoption varies. We updated the Alcohol Preparedness Index (API) to track global and regional policy trends from 2010–2019.

Using WHO GISAH data for 141 countries, we scored five domains (policy frameworks; production/pricing/taxation; marketing/availability; drink-driving; monitoring/surveillance). The primary endpoint was % change in API. Trends were summarized by WHO region and correlates tested in adjusted regression.

In 2019, <25% of countries had a strong national alcohol plan and 40% had none. Production/pricing/taxation increased most (27%→78%); monitoring/surveillance reached strong levels in 47.5%. Median API increased from 57.0 [39.0–82.0] (2010) to 74.8 [58.3–83.5] (2016) and stayed above baseline in 2019 (67.8 [51.2–83.8]). Larger population predicted less API gain (β=−19.1, p<0.05); HDI and per-capita consumption did not.

Global alcohol policy preparedness increased from 2010–2019.

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