Nordic ALCOHOL and DRUG policy network
NordAN
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Conference presentations
Welcome and introduction
Svens Henkuzens, Deputy State Secretary for Health Policy, Health Ministry, Latvia
Almers Ludviks, Partneri Association, NordAN board member
PLENARY 1 Latvia session: Perspectives from government, research, and civil society
Ginta Egle, and Arta Hermane, the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Recent developments in the field of alcohol and other substance use policy in Latvia
Anna Pluta, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies – Alcohol´s economic costs in Latvia
Agris Starts, Tavai Brīvībai – “1000 Days Sober” initiative
PLENARY 2 Alcohol, drugs, and resilience in an unstable times
Discussion led by Mikaela Lindeman, Editor of PopNAD,
Daina Mežecka, Advisor, Social Welfare and Civil Society, Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia
Marta Krivade, Public Health Officer, WHO Country Office in Latvia
Nils Garnes, IOGT Norway
PLENARY 3 Update hour – reports from Member States
Jiri Damski, EHYT Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention (Finland) - PRESENTATION
Nijole Gostautaite Midttun, Lithuanian Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition (Lithuania) - PRESENTATION
Stig Erik Sørheim, Actis (Norway) - PRESENTATION
Viljam Borissenko, Public Foundation of Hope (Estonia) - PRESENTATION
Aðalsteinn Gunnarsson, IOGT Iceland (Iceland) - PRESENTATION
Rebecka Öberg, Movendi Sweden (Sweden) - PRESENTATION
PLENARY 4 Drug policy in practice: evidence, ideologies, and interventions
Ginta Ozola, from the Ministry of Health and Diāna Vanaga-Arāja from Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Drug demand reduction activities in Latvia
Panel on harm reduction, led by Peter Moilanen, Narkotikapolitiskt Center
Nijole Gostautaite Midttun, Lithuanian Prison Service
Stig Erik Sørheim, Actis
Lauri Beekmann, NordAN - Political ideologies and substance policy
PLENARY 5 How many actually fit under the concept of responsible drinking?
Moderated by Elēna Zviedre
Jeļena Vrubļevska, National Mental Health Center - How alcohol affects mental health issues?
Mārtiņš Zvackis, Riga Stradiņš University - The association between alcohol consumption and medication use among the population in Latvia
Madara Lapsa, Head of MARTA Centre Liepaja branch - When drinking is no longer a choice: alcohol and addiction.
PLENARY 6 The progress in the Baltics and Eastern Europe
Runa Neely, ALCINEUR project - Alcohol control policy and alcohol-attributable disease burden in Eastern European Union countries: A 25-year longitudinal study
Discussion: Where are the gaps in research. What evidence do we still need?
Håkan Leifman, SLAN
Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences – Final conclusions from the project Baltic Alcohol Control Policy Project
PLENARY 7 - WHO, from field to corridors
Jarno Habicht, Head of WHO Ukraine office (VIDEO)
Dag Rekve, Senior Technical Officer in WHO Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours Unit - PRESENTATION
Marta Krivade, Public Health Officer, WHO Country Office in Latvia - PRESENTATION
Conference images
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Photos: Per-Olof Svensson
Snapshots from Riga
Latvia at a turning point
The NordAN 2025 conference in Riga took place at a moment when alcohol and drug policy in Northern and Eastern Europe is under visible stress. Latvia is in the middle of a significant shift in its alcohol policy, while the wider region faces war related pressures, a mental health crisis, economic uncertainty and shrinking prevention budgets.
Latvia’s starting point is serious. Data from the Ministry of Health and public health experts showed that alcohol consumption is high, binge drinking is common, and a large share of consumption is in strong spirits. Alcohol related harm is visible in mortality from directly related diseases and from poisoning, falls and suicides, with men carrying much higher mortality than women. New cases of alcohol related mental and behavioural disorders have increased compared to 2020, almost half involve alcohol dependence, and the share among women is growing.
Despite this, Latvia postponed stronger alcohol policy for more than a decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online and mobile alcohol sales were allowed “to support self isolation”. In 2025 the country finally decided on a package of restrictions: shorter retail hours, a minimum six hour delay on online deliveries, a ban on discount and price advertising, and a ban on alcohol at gambling machines. Proposals for excise tax increases, a higher legal drinking age and a petrol station sales ban were rejected, even as drink driving remains an issue.
Evidence from the region
Evidence from other countries showed that strong measures work. Lithuania has reached its lowest level of legal alcohol consumption in a decade, at 10.2 litres absolute alcohol per capita (15+) in 2024, after a period of consistent tax increases and tighter controls. Research from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health showed that Lithuania’s 2017 excise tax increase reduced consumption and alcohol related mortality and produced a very high return on investment.
The BICEPS study on Latvia confirmed that alcohol costs to the economy, in total direct and indirect costs, are in the range of 1.3–1.8% of GDP, while alcohol excise revenues make up only about 0.7% of GDP. Models showed that raising the minimum legal drinking age to 20, restricting alcohol advertising and tightening drink driving rules would reduce state direct expenditures over time.
War, health and alcohol in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine was a clear background to the Riga discussions. In his video message, Dr Jarno Habicht reminded participants that this is already the fourth year of war since the full scale invasion in 2022, with Ukraine’s health system operating under extraordinary pressure. WHO has verified more than 2,700 attacks on health care, including 224 people killed and 881 injured, and he noted that destruction and suffering in 2025 are higher than in previous years.
WHO supported two nationwide surveys on alcohol in 2023 and 2024. These showed that current drinkers rose from just over 50% in 2023 to 57% in 2024, a 7% increase. Heavy episodic drinking grew by 5 percentage points, from 49.2% to 54.2%, which Jarno described as a worrying normalisation of risky drinking amid war and instability. Only about 3% of drinkers reported receiving medical advice to reduce their consumption. At the same time, support for stricter alcohol laws under martial law is high, above two thirds of the population. WHO and Ukrainian partners are working on an alcohol control action plan, clinical standards for treating alcohol use disorders, a model of assistance, health worker training, awareness campaigns and work on alcohol taxation, but implementation will need resources and attention in wartime.
Prevention and civil society under strain
Speakers from Nordic and Baltic countries described shrinking prevention budgets, changing EU funding tools and a risk that stable NGOs and local prevention structures are weakened just as evidence and needs grow. Iceland’s case showed how a once strong prevention field in sports and youth work can erode when funding and attention move elsewhere and alcohol industry influence enters sport.
The NordAN General Assembly responded with two resolutions. One calls for health taxes with earmarking to safeguard prevention capacity, treatment, research and civil society funding. The other calls for a prevention first, health centred EU drug strategy that balances supply control with strong health responses. Together they form a clear message that listening is not enough and that prevention and civil society need stable, long term support.
Riga resolutions
1. prevention-first and health-centred EU drug strategy
This resolution says that EU drug policy should not focus mainly on crime and trafficking, but give equal weight to health and prevention. It reminds that drug-related harm is much wider than deaths. It affects health, families, work and communities. Drug markets are changing fast, with stronger synthetic drugs, polydrug use and online supply, and young people are often the first to be affected. At the same time, access to services is uneven across Europe, with long waiting lists and gaps in care. Families, schools, workplaces and civil society are highlighted as key partners in building protection and supporting recovery, and the resolution underlines how social and economic inequality increases people’s vulnerability.
NordAN calls on EU institutions and member states to put prevention at the centre of the next EU Drugs Strategy, with clear goals, measurable targets and proper funding, including where alcohol appears in polydrug patterns. The resolution asks for a comprehensive health action plan to match supply-side measures, stronger early warning and guidance on synthetics and polydrug use, and better access to youth-friendly, gender-responsive and trauma-informed services, including low-threshold help and aftercare. It also calls for real participation of young people, people in recovery, families and NGOs in shaping and reviewing the strategy, for stable long-term funding for community work, for better links between policies on legal and illegal substances, and for protecting health budgets in times of crisis. The overall message is to shift EU drug policy towards prevention and health, while protecting human rights and future generations.
2. resolution on health taxes with earmarking to safeguard prevention and civil society capacity
This resolution responds to the fact that many governments are cutting funds for NGOs and prevention, and that EU-level funding is also changing. It stresses that stable prevention, treatment and support depend on predictable national and local financing, and that independent NGOs play a central role in this work. The text recalls WHO guidance that encourages countries to raise prices on harmful products like alcohol and to consider earmarking part of these tax revenues for health purposes. At the same time, it recognises that fiscal and legal systems differ, so earmarking will not look the same everywhere and should be seen as one possible option that governments can choose when they design health taxes and financing systems.
NordAN urges national governments to consider earmarking a defined share of alcohol tax revenue for prevention, treatment, research and civil society action to reduce alcohol harm, using clear rules that protect these funds and report publicly on how they are used. The resolution calls for investment in local prevention capacity so that municipalities, schools, primary care and community services, including small NGOs, can access these resources easily. It warns that when civil society loses stable funding, democracies lose scrutiny of public decisions, community voices weaken and services disappear, which opens the door for commercial interests, aggressive marketing and the normalisation of higher-risk alcohol use. By securing stable and transparent financing through earmarked health taxes, the resolution aims to protect essential programmes, support independent NGOs and keep attention on measurable public health outcomes.
25 years of NordAN
NordAN was established in 2000, so in 2025 we celebrated our 25th year as a network. The conference dinner in Riga was dedicated to this anniversary and took place at the Black Monks restaurant. The dinner was kindly sponsored by IOGT-NTO, one of NordAN’s founding member organisations 25 years ago.
Riga+6 online meeting – 14 may 2026
Six months after the NordAN conference in Riga, we meet again online to look at what has changed and what has not. We will revisit the main themes from Riga, hear updates on Latvia’s reforms and Nordic and Baltic developments, and take stock of new evidence and pressures on alcohol and drug policy. A short, focused follow up to keep the Riga discussion alive and to prepare the road toward Faroe 2026.