A technical workshop on the status and prospects of alcohol legislation in Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama) and the Dominican Republic took place May 23-25. Agents responsible for alcohol and non-communicable diseases from these countries' ministries of health and social insurance funds, as well as lawyers from the ministries involved in the elaboration of health legislation, participated in the event. Also participating were Dr. Julio Valdés, Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and Dominican Republic, COMISCA, and other members of his team; Mr. Oscar Cabrera from Washington D.C.'s O'Neill Institute; and PAHO/WHO advisors, Dr. Maristela Monteiro, Senior Advisor on Alcohol, Dr. Ignacio Ibarra, Regional Advisor on Health Legislation, and Dr. Carmen Martínez Viciana, Mental Health Subregional Advisor for Central America and the Latin Caribbean.
Global and regional commitments in several areas related to alcohol were presented in detail, including WHO Global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol, PAHO Plan of action to reduce harmful use of alcohol, and alcohol indicators of WHO and PAHO strategic plans, as well as of the Sustainable Development Goals. PAHO legislation and health strategic framework and COMISCA's institutional, legal and programmatic frame were also shared.
Each country presented its current regulatory situation of alcohol consumption control. Most of the interventions carried out are not consistent with WHO's recommendations. The most cost-effective public policies raised during the workshop were: pricing policy, through inflation-adjusted taxes and according to volume; controlling advertising, sponsorship, and promotion of alcoholic beverages; and monitoring sales premises, days and hours, and access to the purchase of alcohol by minors.
Representatives worked on the first steps for developing national plans, still absent in all participating countries. The group discussed priorities for subregional action through COMISCA as well as the adaptation of the global strategy to national plans and key activities to advance in the implementation of effective measures in each country.
Representatives committed themselves to working on the development of alcohol policies and plans with a public health approach.
PAHO will accompany these national and subregional processes through technical cooperation.
