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Facts on Alcohol
A drinker at home
Drinking at a young age
What does alcohol do to you
What is lower risk drinking?
Alcohol institutions
Contact a professional
Self help and family groups
Problem drinkers
WHO Portal on Alcohol and Health
This site is a demonstration. This page can be adapted by website providers in member states with the appropriate background information.
For the WHO demonstration Portal on Alcohol and Health, the following information applies:
The purpose of this site is to provide member states with an e-health demonstration portal on Alcohol and Health. It provides a template for the development, adaptation, evaluation and dissemination of internationally applicable e-health tools in the area of alcohol and substance abuse.
The initial focus is helping developing countries implement an e-health portal that provides national and international information on policies, epidemiological data, research findings and health services. This information is relevant for policymakers, health- and community-service professionals, and experts in related areas. This site also gives member states access to computerized screening tools such as the ASSIST, as well as a self-help tool for those who want to find out more about their drinking or reduce their drinking.
This internet-based information dissemination and self-help is an innovative method to create online access to existing evidence-based mental health interventions, which are grounded in learning, cognitive/behavioural and problem-solving principles. This online intervention is client-friendly, anonymous, accessible 24/7 and eliminates travel or wait time. Importantly it is also free for users, beyond the usual costs of accessing the internet.
The online intervention follows a meta-analysis commissioned by WHO, which showed that online interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use are as effective as conventional evidence-based psychological treatments administered by clinicians.1 It is also based on an effective intervention originally developed and evaluated in the Netherlands. The role of e-health tools in overall prevention and treatment systems for substance use disorders still requires assessment and evaluation in different cultural and health care system contexts.
The site has been developed by the World Health Organization together with experts from a WHO collaborating centre and leading institutes ion four pilot countries (Belarus, Brazil, India and Mexico). Links to their adapted portals can be found below.
Acknowledgements (insert hyperlink).
Country Portal Links:
Belarus (Russian)
1. Riper H et al (2011) Effectiveness of E-Self-help Interventions for Curbing Adult Problem Drinking: A Meta-Analysis Journal of Medical Internet Research 13(2): e42
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