PRAGUE, Nov.27 (Xinhua) -- The Czech Republic should take more measures to curb alcohol consumption as it did in the tabaco sector, World Health Organization (WHO) representative suggested here on Wednesday.
"We do not see as strong of a response from the political representation as we do in the tobacco sector," said Srdan Matic, representative of WHO in the country, during a conference on alcohol and tobacco.
He said measures like restricted availability, limited advertising, and price increase are efficient and easy to introduce.
The Czech Republic is one of the largest per-capita consumers of alcohol in the world, according to statistics published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Citing data posted by the OECD, Matic said that life expectancy is at least one year shorter in the Czech Republic due to alcohol consumption.
In response, Czech Deputy Minister of Health Roman Prymula said he appreciated "the effort to focus on the social perception of alcohol consumption."
However, he insisted that "the consumption of tobacco and alcohol is decreasing. "
"But we still cannot be satisfied with them," he said.
