Management of Conflicts of Interest in WHO's Consultative Processes on Global Alcohol Policy.

June Yy Leung,Sally Casswell

doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2021.139

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has engaged in consultations with the alcohol industry in global alcohol policy development, including currently a draft action plan to strengthen implementation of the Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. WHO's Framework for Engagement with Non-State Actors (FENSA) is an organization-wide policy that aims to manage potential conflicts of interest in WHO's interactions with private sector entities, non-governmental institutions, philanthropic foundations and academic institutions. We analysed the alignment of WHO's consultative processes with non-state actors on "the way forward" for alcohol policy and a global alcohol action plan with FENSA. We referred to publicly accessible WHO documents, including the Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Unit website, records of relevant meetings, and other documents relevant to FENSA. We documented submissions to two web-based consultations held in 2019 and 2020 by type of organization and links to the alcohol industry. WHO's processes to conduct due diligence, risk assessment and risk management as required by FENSA appeared to be inadequate. Limited information was published on non-state actors, primarily the alcohol industry, that participated in the consultations, including their potential conflicts of interest. No minutes were published for WHO's virtual meeting with the alcohol industry, suggesting a lack of transparency. Organizations with known links to the tobacco industry participated in both web-based consultations, despite FENSA's principle of non-engagement with tobacco industry actors. WHO's consultative processes have not been adequate to address conflicts of interest in relation to the alcohol industry, violating the principles of FENSA. Member states must ensure that WHO has the resources to implement and is held accountable for appropriate and consistent safeguards against industry interference in the development of global alcohol policy.

Highlights

WHA58.26 Public-health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol
The Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly, Having considered the report on public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol;[1]
Reaffirming resolutions WHA32.40 on development of the WHO programme on alcohol-related problems, WHA36.12 on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems: development of national policies and programmes, WHA42.20 on prevention and control of drug and alcohol abuse, WHA55.10 on mental health: responding to the call for action, WHA57.10 on road safety and health, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles, and WHA57.17 on the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health; Recalling The world health report 2002, which indicated that 4% of the burden of disease and 3.2% of all deaths globally were attributed to alcohol, and that alcohol was the foremost risk to health in low-mortality developing countries and the third in developed countries; 2

Summary

Introduction

Reaffirming resolutions WHA32.40 on development of the WHO programme on alcohol-related problems, WHA36.12 on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems: development of national policies and programmes, WHA42.20 on prevention and control of drug and alcohol abuse, WHA55.10 on mental health: responding to the call for action, WHA57.10 on road safety and health, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles, and WHA57.17 on the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health; Recalling The world health report 2002, which indicated that 4% of the burden of disease and 3.2% of all deaths globally were attributed to alcohol, and that alcohol was the foremost risk to health in low-mortality developing countries and the third in developed countries; 2.

Results

Conclusion