Press release
Ministers for Health welcome the decision to host Global Alcohol Policy Conference in Dublin
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, and the Minister of State for Health Promotion and the National Drugs Strategy, Catherine Byrne TD, today (Tuesday) welcomed the news that Ireland has been selected as the location for the next Global Alcohol Policy Conference in 2020.
The Conference is held every two years and this 6th conference has a theme of Alcohol Equity and Global Health: the benefit of alcohol control for sustainable development for all.
The Conference will take place in Dublin in March 2020 and will bring together policy makers, researchers and advocates, civil society representatives and practitioners to share knowledge on alcohol issues.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister Harris said:
“The enactment of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill sent a message to the world that Ireland is serious about addressing the harms of alcohol in our country."
“That commitment has now been recognised by this invitation to host the next Global Alcohol Policy Conference."
“The conference will provide an excellent opportunity to reinforce the public health message about alcohol and to share best practice from across the world on addressing this important issue."
“We know that we have a relationship with alcohol in this country that is not good, damages our health, harms our communities and harms many families. While we have made significant advances in this regard, we have a lot more we can do and this conference can help us continue to make advances in this area.”
Minister Byrne said:
“I am delighted that the Global Alcohol Policy Conference is coming to Dublin in 2020. There has been broad recognition of our progressive public health approach to tackling the harmful use of alcohol in Ireland. Under our new legislation, we will bring in measures this year to reduce the visibility of alcohol, particularly around children. The theme of next year’s conference complements the vision of our national ‘Healthy Ireland Framework’; to create a society where everyone can enjoy good physical and mental health and wellbeing."
ENDS
The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (‘GAPA’) is a network of not-for-profit organisations and people working in public health agencies that share information on alcohol issues and advocate evidence-based alcohol policies, free from commercial interests. Its mission is to “reduce alcohol-related harm worldwide by promoting science-based policies independent of commercial interests”.
The Public Health (Alcohol) Act was enacted on 17th October 2018. 23 of its 31 provisions were commenced from 12 November 2018.
These include that:
From 12 November 2019:
From 12 November 2020:
In mixed retail outlets, alcohol products and advertising are confined to one of the following:
In addition, alcohol products can be contained but not be visible in a unit behind the counter.
From 12 November 2021: