Kerala government will host a three-day international conference on 'Effective Strategies for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse' here from February 17, as part of its 'Subodham' initiative aimed at making the state 'addiction-free'.
Titled Subodham 1-CON 2016, the meet is aimed at learning from the best practices in the areas of demand reduction, harm reduction and research from around the globe and also showcase the state's experience in substance abuse policy making.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the conference at a function here in which British global policy expert Derek Rutherford will deliver the keynote address.
Around 150 national and international delegates are expected to participate in the sessions.
Announcing the programme, Excise Minister K Babu said the event is part of government's plan to expand the programme.
"The UDF government has launched massive awareness drives under the Excise Department to reduce alcohol and drug consumption among people in the last five years.
"We are targeting to reduce not only alcohol consumption but also drug abuse through awareness campaigns," Babu told reporters here today.
The rate of liquor consumption has now come down to 10 per cent from 16 per cent five years ago, he claimed.
Sessions will include discussions on global and national policies and strategies, the role of faith-based organisations and a plan of action on the way forward, he said.
Apart from prominent political leaders and policy makers from the state, conference participants include representatives from Word Health Organisation, the United Nations Office on Drug Crime, the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance and NGOs.
The concluding session will be inaugurated by Governor Justice P Sathasivam on February 19, he added.
The senior excise official said the awareness meet
focused on weaning away the garden teenagers from the habit of drinking.
"Most of the school drop-outs who are in their teens, just waste away their time with some hitting the bottle out of sheer frustration," Nath said.
Parents and the elderly have been asked to take lead in prevailing over the youth to shun the practice of alcoholism and to send them to schools once again to continue with their studies.
Nath said the workers, distillers and sellers would meet again after a fortnight to review the action plans initiated to stop illicit liquor.
He also exuded optimism that Koyah would soon become an illicit liquor-free estate like Serishpore.
