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Advocacy Issues |
Alcohol: Canada's Favourite Drug
from the OPHA Alcohol Workgroup
Though alcohol is widely recognized as an important risk factor for numerous chronic diseases and injuries, it takes time and work to translate this knowledge into action at the local public health level.
To that end, OPHA and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will present a pre-conference workshop at the annual CPHA conference in September. The objectives of this workshop are:
To raise the profile of alcohol on the national health agenda, with an emphasis on injury prevention and chronic disease prevention; To provide practical advice for public and community health action; To offer opportunities for cross-provincial links to facilitate future work on alcohol policy.
This day-long event will feature presentations by some of Canada's leading alcohol scholars and activists, including those active in alcohol research, policy and advocacy from B.C., Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Topics range from problems/costs of alcohol use in Canada, erosion of alcohol controls in trade agreements, alcohol taxes and prices, and prevention initiatives for children and youth.
The dissemination of the results from this workshop will facilitate awareness-raising about the damage from alcohol and will stimulate community action in order to reduce the harm resulting from alcohol abuse.
The workshop will also provide an opportunity to highlight the recent work on Canada's National Framework for Action to Reduce the Harms Associated with Alcohol and Other Drugs and Substances in Canada, which was released in April 2007. Confirmed speakers at the workshop include:
- Denise DePape (Toronto Public Health and OPHA)
- Tim Stockwell (Centre for Addiction Research of British Columbia)
- Michel Perron (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse)
- Andrew Murie (Mothers Against Drunk Driving – Canada)
- Christiane Poulin (Dalhousie University), and
- Jürgen Rehm (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and University of Toronto).
A grant has been solicited in order to develop proceedings for widespread distribution and for follow-up action by the participants.
This is a great follow-up step from the 2007 "Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity" symposium, which was sponsored by OPHA, CAMH, and the Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance. That symposium, the fourth in a series, focused on the role of alcohol in chronic disease.
More information about the CPHA 2007 Annual Conference, "Public Health in Canada: From Politics to the People," can be found at the conference website. The conference runs from September 16-19 in Ottawa. "Alcohol: Canada's Favourite Drug" is scheduled for Sunday, September 16, and interested attendees are encouraged to register soon.
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