Inspired by the recently enacted Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the American Public Health Association (APHA) is calling for a similar international treaty to address alcohol problems.

The APHA's Governing Council recently released "A Call for a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control," imploring the World Health Organization (WHO) to draft a treaty to address alcohol-related disease and social harm. The tobacco convention would be the model; the alcohol treaty would have to be signed by governments worldwide and then ratified by individual nations for it to come into effect.

The APHA urged other public-health organizations to support the development of the Framework Convention on Alcohol Control and asked the U.S. government to support the planning process.