The seminar was co-organised by the Asia-Pacific InternationalWine & Spirits Alliance (APIWSA), the Pernod Ricard company, and theNational Committee for Traffic Safety.
Since 2012, the APIWSA, businesses and organisations havelaunched a number of programmes against the damaging impacts of alcoholicbeverage abuse such as “Traffic safety for youths”, “Responsible drinking andtraffic safety”, and the model “Women raise voice about responsible drinking”in Can Tho and Ninh Binh with more than 200 people taking part.
They helped more than 1,100 traffic police deal withviolations regarding alcohol limit excess while more than 900 keycommunications staff, 1 million students and 2 million people were trained onresponsible drinking and driving. Over 1,000 shops were provided withinformation on not selling beer and alcohol to those below 18.
Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Traffic Safetyunder the People’s Police Academy Le Huy Tri hoped that APIWSA will continue supportingVietnam in training and equipment, launch training courses on investigatingaccidents involving drivers abusing beer and alcohol.
Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Beer, Alcohol andBeverage Association and Chairman of the Vietnam Association for ResponsibleDrinking Nguyen Tien Vy said 70 percent of wine are handcrafted, which damageshealth of drinkers. Meanwhile, public awareness of drinking, especially inrural areas, remains limited.
Discussing the draft Law on Preventing and Combating HarmfulEffects of Alcohol and Beer, Vy said the bill comprises strict regulations on thetime and location of sale, ban on advertising and sponsor of alcoholicbeverages.
He called for issuing mechanisms to better controlhandcrafted alcohol without clear origin that impact users’ health.
Deputy head of the National Committee for Traffic SafetyTran Huu Minh suggested that the law compiling board should evaluate firms’ financialcontributions to the State budget to carry out the campaign against beer andalcohol abuse, saying that it should be discussed in an open, transparent andpersuasive way.
There were 20,080 traffic accidents nationwide last year,killing 8,279 people and injuring 17,040 others. The number of drunk drivers accountedfor 36 percent during usual days and over 60 percent during holidays. -VNA