Brooke Taylor, CTVNews.ca Writer
Red wine is poured into a glass in this file photo. (Instants / Istock.com)
TORONTO — A global action plan on alcohol laid out by the World Health Organization (WHO) has come under fire after some interpreted that the WHO had proposed to ban people of childbearing age from drinking alcohol entirely.
The first draft of the global action plan on alcohol report, released on June 15, laid out several plans to “reduce the harmful use of alcohol,” detailing the health impact of certain levels of alcohol consumption on populations around the world, not just people of childbearing age.
While the report did argue that attention to alcohol consumption by pregnant women and women of childbearing age, specifically, should be monitored, banning alcohol for women between the ages of 15 and 50 was not one of the recommendations of the report, despite headlines from some U.K. tabloids and outrage on social media.
As fact checking website Snopes notes, the WHO report mentions people of childbearing age exactly once in the report stating: “Appropriate attention should be given to…prevention of drinking among pregnant women and women of childbearing age.”
Reproductive age, according to the WHO, ranges from 15 to 50-years-old.
The report also identified other vulnerable groups where prevention strategies should be targeted, including children, adolescents and pregnant people.
In a statement the WHO says they are not recommending an all-out ban on alcohol in women of child-bearing age, noting that this is a first draft of the action plan.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the ‘FASD Prevention Conversation, A Shared Responsibility Project’, its stakeholders, and/or funders.