On the 25 October 2012, the Health and Global Policy Institute held a corporate breakfast meeting for the advisers, sponsors and experts of the Institute.

Lately it has been increasingly recognized that harmful use of alcohol has a large influence in causing physical illness (such as so-called lifestyle diseases like liver disease and diabetes), mental illness (such as depression and alcohol dependence) and social problems (including drink-driving, domestic violence, abuse and breakdown of families). In light of the fact that around 2.5 million people die each year worldwide from alcohol-related causes, WHO unanimously adopted the resolution ‘Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol’ in 2010, stating the need for global cooperation in tackling this problem. According to 2008 estimates by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, harmful use of alcohol in Japan accounts for social losses of up to around 4.1 trillion yen per year. Strategies for tackling alcohol-related problems cover a diverse range of areas, and there is now an urgent need for prompt and comprehensive action, which has led to activity in Japan among groups such as non-partisan Diet member federations for the enactment of bills such as the ‘Basic Law for Tackling Negative Health Effects of Alcohol’.

 For this reason, for the special breakfast meeting on this occasion we invited Karl Mann （Professor, University of Heidelberg, Germany）and Susumu Higuchi （Director, NHO Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center/President-Elect, International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism） to speak about the problems resulting from harmful use of alcohol and the kinds of policies that are necessary for tackling these issues, from their respective viewpoints and through to the global level perspective.

■Theme

“Problems Resulting from Harmful Use of Alcohol and Countermeasures for Tackling this Issue”

 ■Speakers

・Karl Mann （Professor, University of Heidelberg, Germany）

・Susumu Higuchi （Director, NHO Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center/　
President-Elect, International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism）

 ■Date and Time

25 October 2012（Thursday）8：00～9：30

■Place

Hotel Okura Tokyo　‘Mayfair’（Annex building 12^th floor）　（Toranomon 2-10-4, Minato-ku, Tokyo）

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Exhibition date：2012-10-25