Vietnam’s Ministry of Health is seeking experiences from world organisations and other countries in curbing and preventing alcohol abuse via a conference on the theme held in Hanoi on Nov. 10.

The conference dubbed “Sharing world experiences in the prevention and fight against alcohol abuse” was attended by representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Health Policy Programme of Thailand and the University of Massey, New Zealand.

During the course of the workshop, participants discussed and exchanged national experiences in pricing and taxing alcoholic products, advertisement regulations, policies on reducing and relocating the alcohol distribution outlets, regulations on the age of persons to be qualified for using alcohol, etc.

At present, the world alcohol consumption is steadily on the rise and has become more prevalent among youth.

In Vietnam, the average age for people to start using alcohol hovers around 24 years of age, whereas in some Western countries the age is 15.

New Zealand participants brought up their experience in reducing the fatality rate due to alcohol (from 44 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 2001) by conducting random and more flexible breath-tests for drivers and accelerating communication programmes on the dangers of drink driving through the mass media.

Meanwhile, Thai representatives suggested a measure that has already been taken in Vietnam , calling for people to not use alcohol during community events such as funerals, weddings or other types of festivities./.