Mongolian President HE Elbegdorj Tsakhia receives WHO Regional Director's First Special Recognition Award for Alcohol Control

The World Health Organization (WHO) awarded HE Elbegdorj Tsakhia, President of Mongolia the Regional Director’s special recognition plaque. The honour recognizes the public health leadership of a country leader and is the first of its kind for alcohol control in Western Pacific Region.
The award was conferred on 24 October, 2012, in a ceremony led by Dr. Wiwat Rojanapithayakorn, WHO Representative in Mongolia in behalf of Dr. Shin Young–soo, Regional Director of WHO Western Pacific Region. Dr. Wiwat praised the President’s leadership in the fight against increasing prevalence of alcohol related diseases.
This recognition will hopefully make countries around the world aware of a good example on how the leadership of the Head of a country can make a difference in the fight against non-communicable disease and reduction in the harmful effects of alcohol.
Globally, the harmful use of alcohol causes an estimated 2.5 million deaths every year and is the third leading risk factor for poor health. In Mongolia, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) linked to alcohol use such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and cancers of cervix, liver and breast are the major causes of illness and death and the incidence of these diseases are on the rise. Other harmful effects of alcohol use are road traffic accidents and domestic violence.
Recent population based surveys in 2009 show that common risk factors to non-communicable diseases, namely, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet are widespread at nearly 40% among the population aged between 15-64 years old.
The Government of Mongolia initiated several major activities through its national programme on non-communicable diseases to combat the high incidence of NCD’s and its common risk factors. These include developing and implementing appropriate policies and programmes in line with WHO’s Global and Regional Strategies to reduce Noncommunicable diseases and harmful use of alcohol.
To boost government efforts to prevent and control of alcohol-related harm, President HE Elbegdorj Tsakhia launched a cross-cutting, multisectoral campaign with the theme: Alcohol-Free Mongolia.
The President called upon government and other agencies to abstain from serving alcohol at official ceremonies or functions. Instead, he recommends milk. He also invited all sectors, including nongovernmental organizations, to join the campaign.
At the same time, the President is leading a movement to change the legal environment for the manufacture, sale and distribution of alcohol throughout the nation in public health context towards prevention and control from alcohol-related harm.
Earlier, the President personally participated in the UN High Level Meeting on NCD prevention and control in New York in September 2011 and committed to implement the Resolutions of UN High Level Meeting on NCD in Mongolia. He also called for an international convention on Alcohol similar to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco control (FCTC) to guide combined efforts of countries on reducing alcohol consumption and harm related to human health.
This recognition will hopefully make countries around the world aware of a good example on how the leadership of the Head of a country can make a difference in the fight against non-communicable disease and reduction in the harmful effects of alcohol.