The 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs (UN HLM) is a historic opportunity to mobilise political leadership, increase investments, and generate commit to ambitious alcohol policy action to promote health and development for all. The current trends in alcohol consumption, harm, and policy indicate that the global target set for reducing population-level alcohol consumption will not be met by 2030. The 4th HLM on NCDs is a timely and critical opportunity to level up recognition of the need for a...| Movendi International
Movendi International has launched a global initiative to ensure the UN Political Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health includes high-impact, evidence-based alcohol policy solutions. Despite alcohol being a major risk factor, proven solutions are being left out due to industry interference. The initiative for collective action gives people everywhere the chance to make their voices heard and urge their governments to restore ambition, integrity, and impact to the declaration. The post A Call ...| Movendi International
The latest draft of the UN Political Declaration (Revision 3) brings back two references to alcohol policy best buys—barely avoiding complete meaninglessness. Yet the draft still falls short of previous global commitments to accelerate action, ignores WHO guidance, sidesteps the scientific evidence, and fails to match the scale of the alcohol burden.| Movendi International
AB InBev and Heineken are further ramping up their push to boost alcohol use in markets such as Brazil and China, despite public health concerns, reports Reuters. Facing falling sales, both beer giants now focus on volume growth, prioritising profit over health. Experts warn that Big Beer’s aggressive tactics threaten global health, especially in countries with already high alcohol burden, such as Brazil and China, and inadequate alcohol laws. The post Exposed: Inside Big Beer Plans To Driv...| Movendi International
On August 1, 2025, Latvia begins implementing new alcohol policy measures to address the country's alcohol burden, driven by some of Europe’s highest alcohol use rates. With alcohol use costing Latvia up to €602 million annually, the reforms aim to reduce harm and improve public health. Latvia's new package of alcohol policy measures shows a public health approach grounded in international evidence aiming to protect health and reduce harm. It is a hard-won reform against alcohol industry ...| Movendi International
Alcohol industry language, no alcohol policy action: UN Political Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health risks becoming meaningless. Alcohol industry interference in the drafting of the political declaration of the fourth high-level meeting on NCDs and mental health has quietly erased proven, cost-effective alcohol policy measures - despite alcohol being the leading risk factor for death and disease among young people worldwide. While tobacco is treated with specificity and urgency, alcohol po...| Movendi International
Alcohol use among women has risen sharply over the past 20 years and so have the harms. Alcohol-related deaths in women more than doubled between 1999 and 2020, while cases of alcohol-related liver disease have surged. Experts point to targeted alcohol industry marketing, promoting alcohol as empowerment and stress relief, as a key driver. Health promotion experts call for urgent action to counter a women's health crisis that industry strategies helped create. The post Driving Harm: As Alcoho...| Movendi International
Researchers from AIIMS are calling for cancer warning labels on alcohol to curb rising cancer rates. Warning labels could raise awareness and reduce use. In India, where public awareness remains low, experts urge policymakers to adopt labels as a cost-effective cancer prevention strategy and a first step toward comprehensive and modern alcohol policy for the country. The post India: Medical Experts Call For Cancer Warning Labels on Alcohol appeared first on Movendi International.| Movendi International
Big Alcohol launched a new so-called “moderate consumption” alliance in Mexico. This story exposes how it set up to follow Big Alcohol’s global playbook to undermine public health. Behind the façade of "education" lies a front group connected to the country’s powerful beer industry lobby, promoting harmful concepts while deflecting attention from proven alcohol policy solutions. This development is part of a broader international strategy by alcohol giants to delay effective alcohol ...| Movendi International
With public pressure mounting, Czech leaders are considering new alcohol policy reforms to better respond to the high-level of alcohol harm and costs. Supported by enormous public backing, 78% favour banning alcohol ads at youth events, other proposals include raising alcohol taxes and banning ads at concerts. The post Czech Republic Considers New Alcohol Policy Initiative appeared first on Movendi International.| Movendi International
The reappearance of cheap sachet alcohol in Nigeria has sparked urgent calls for a national alcohol policy. Despite a prior ban, children as young as 10 can access alcohol for ₦100, raising fears of brain damage, addiction, and road fatalities. At a major conference in Lagos, experts warned that without legislation, early alcohol exposure will worsen. The post Nigeria: Public Demand for National Alcohol Policy As Sachet Alcohol Returns appeared first on Movendi International.| Movendi International
This article explores how countries are addressing cancer risks due to alcohol by highlighting effective strategies and the challenges they face. Which countries have - or will have - effective warning labels, which countries have state-of-the-art low-risk alcohol use guidelines, and are there public awareness efforts on alcohol and cancer? In addition to these questions, the article also exposes how the alcohol industry works to keep people in the dark about the alcohol and cancer link and...| Movendi International
What makes an advocacy campaign for alcohol excise tax increases successful? In this opinion column, Labram shares his first hand experiences and insights into how civil society in Ghana was able to overcome heavy alcohol industry opposition and succeeded in persuading and supporting law makers to improve alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks taxes. What were the concrete challenges? How did they work? What did they learn and what are the next steps? Labram provides compelling answers to all th...| Movendi International
VAST Ghana is stepping up for alcohol taxation. Following successful advocacy work for Ghana to raise alcohol taxes in 2023, VAST is now stepping up again to defend the public health achievement. The Excise Duty Act, with tax rates up to 47.5%, is credited with curbing alcohol harm, yet it now faces pushback from the alcohol industry. VAST Ghana urges lawmakers to resist pressure and instead strengthen tax policy by adopting a hybrid system and indexing for inflation.| Movendi International
Movendi International strives to disseminate the latest scientific evidence and information in order to foster crucial insight in and understanding of the policy-making processes and supply decision-makers and opinion leaders with crucial evidence.| Movendi International
Per capita consumption of alcohol, measured as gallons of pure alcohol per person, increased by 2.9% in 2020. This was the largest increase in more than 50 years, since a 3.4% increase in 1968. The annual total number of alcohol deaths increased from 78,927 (2019) to 99,017 (2020) to 108,791 in 2021.| Movendi International
According to latest findings from a brand new study, alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. increased by about 25% from 2019 to 2020. This is a sharp rise from the 2.2% average annual percent increase in alcohol-related deaths between 1999 and 2017. The alcohol industry has been exploiting the pandemic to drive higher sales and profits. Pandemic-centric marketing, such as promoting alcohol use to cope with pandemic stressors, has been particularly harmful. The alcohol alcohol industry also deploy...| Movendi International
New research shows that alcohol deaths in the U.S. have doubled since 1999, with sharp increases during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data signals an escalating public health crisis requiring urgent policy action. Disparities worsened: alcohol death rates surged among women, youth, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations, Black Americans saw a 21% annual increase in mortality after 2019. Experts call for urgent alcohol policy action, including improved screening and treatment access, alcoh...| Movendi International
A brand new landmark study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) confirms that Lithuania’s 2017 alcohol excise tax increase delivered significant health improvements as well as economic benefits. For every €1 invested in raising the alcohol excise tax, the country gained €420 in economic benefits, while alcohol-related deaths dropped by 22% and tax revenues rose by 38%. With no rise in illegal alcohol use, the policy showcases how raising alcohol excise taxes can prevent ...| Movendi International
The harm caused by the practices and products of the alcohol industry can be reversed through implementation of evidence-based, cost-effective and high-impact public policy measures: the alcohol policy best buys.| Movendi International
The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania (Seimas) adopted amendments to the Law on Alcohol on June 1, 2017. The new alcohol policy measures raise the legal age for alcohol use, restrict hours of alcohol sales and ban alcohol advertising...| Movendi International
The latest World Health Organization (WHO) data show that Lithuania is among the top five countries that have reduced alcohol consumption the most over the past five years.| Movendi International
More Lithuanian young people are choosing the alcohol-free way of life, proving the efficacy of the Lithuanian alcohol policy model. Improved alcohol policy laws were adopted by Lithuania in June 2017. But there have been talks recently of weakening this policy model. However, that is not what the public wants. The Lithuanian people support the current effective alcohol policy model which protects their youth and children from harm.| Movendi International
The speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) Viktorija Čmilyte-Nielsen has said the country's modern laws should be reviewed. Currently, Lithuania has comprehensive, world-class alcohol laws in place since 2017. The new laws are showing positive effects already. Yet the speaker believes the laws need reviewing and "replacing."| Movendi International
Movendi International has released a brand new episode of the Alcohol Issues podcast. For this fifth episode, we are talking with Nijole Gostautaite Midttun, the President of the Lithuanian Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition (NTAKK), about Lithuania is one of the most remarkable success stories of alcohol policy-making in the world. The latest podcast episode also discusses four new weekly highlights regarding alcohol issues in policy, science and industry revelations. In policy news, we t...| Movendi International
People who go alcohol-free or consume only small amounts of alcohol have lower risk of premature death and have a lower environmental impact, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It is the first large study to directly evaluate the impacts of adherence to recommendations in the landmark 2019 EAT-Lancet report.| Movendi International
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) recently released new data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project. The data shows among other things that cancer caused by alcohol is increasing globally, and that the overall number of cases of non-communicable diseases because of alcohol is decreasing very slowly, despite the global NCD action plan.| Movendi International
