The Union Health Ministry on Friday moved a resolution for designating October 2 as "World No Alcohol Day" in the World Health Assembly in Geneva. "It will now be deliberated by the member countries," said a senior ministry official. A day before leaving for Geneva, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss had expressed his ambitious idea. "I have had a word with the Director General, World Health Organisation (WHO), on this issue. I am going to make a strong case for designating October 2 as 'No Alcohol Day'," Ramadoss, who has been advocating for stopping on-screen consumption of alcohol, had told The Sunday Express. Even as the WHO members approved plans for a new strategy to curb the harmful effects of alcohol, delegates from the WHO's 193 member states met Director General Margaret Chan to draw up a draft global strategy over the next two years on how to tackle the problem. The members signed up a resolution to reduce alcohol-related harms.The WHO said it was "deeply concerned by the extent of public health problems associated with harmful use of alcohol, including injuries and violence".
