Good practice principles for low risk drinking guidelines

Abstract

The publication synthesizes work done in the EU Joint Action RARHA to identify good practice principles for the use of low risk drinking guidelines as a public health tool. Using the lifetime mortality risk from exposure to alcohol as the metric is suggested as a way towards a common concept of “low” risk. Further topics addressed include uses of the “standard drink” concept and the provision of consumer information on alcoholic beverages, guidance to reduce alcohol-related harm for young people, and recommendations for the integration of early identification and brief intervention for alcohol use disorders (EIBI) into routine clinical practice in primary health care.