Effective Programs and Interventions in Prevention and Reduction of Alcoholic Beverages Consumption in Communities: A Review Study

Alcoholic beverages consumption affects all body organs and causes wide range of diseases such as cancers, psychopathy and violent behaviors. There is no precise statistics on alcohol consumption prevalence in Iran. Nevertheless, it is estimated that there are more than one million abusers of alcoholic beverages in the country. Various programs and interventions have been conducted to prevent and reduce alcohol consumption in different nations. The current narrative review study aimed at determining the effective strategies and programs applied in other societies and identifying appropriate approaches to the current situation of Iran. National and international databases were assessed by the research team and related studies were retrieved and categorized after quality assessment. Results of this study indicated that effective programs in prevention and reduction of alcohol consumption can be categorized in six general parts as follows: education and training, health-sector programs, community programs, regulations and policies regarding driving under the influence of alcohol, access-related policies and harm-reduction programs.