From 1–5 June 2026, WHO/Europe will join researchers, policy-makers, advocates and practitioners at the 51st Annual Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society (KBS) for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. Known for its collaborative and welcoming atmosphere, KBS brings together a diverse and global community committed to addressing alcohol-related harm through open dialogue and evidence-informed action. The Symposium emphasizes discussing pre-circulated papers, fostering in-depth dialogues and feedback among the research community.
WHO/Europe will contribute with several sessions and presentations across the programme, with a strong focus on translating alcohol labelling research into policy action in the Baltic region. This builds on WHO/Europe’s broader work on alcohol health-warning labels and consumer information policies, such as technical guidance and evidence reviews on alcohol labelling practices, implementation barriers and policy options across the WHO European Region.
As part of a dedicated side event, WHO/Europe will invite policy-makers from the Baltic countries to join the programme and facilitate structured dialogue between the KBS research community and policy-makers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The side event builds directly on the WHO-supported Baltic Alcohol Control Policy Project. The project was launched in 2020 to help the Baltic countries better understand how alcohol policies affect people’s health and wider social and economic well-being. It found that evidence-based alcohol policies reduced mortality across the Baltic countries, especially among men and people from lower socioeconomic groups, while also helping to narrow health inequalities. It also demonstrated that implementation of the 3 WHO “Best Buys” for alcohol, namely increased excise taxation, restrictions on alcohol availability and marketing bans, delivered measurable public health gains.
The event’s 3 objectives are to expose Baltic policy-makers to the current state of alcohol labelling research; surface the practical questions and evidence needs that policy-makers face when considering implementing legislation, with a particular focus on labelling policies; and build relationships between researchers, policy-makers and WHO/Europe that can support evidence-informed policy processes in the Baltic region going forward.
WHO/Europe’s presence at KBS 2026 underscores its commitment to advancing evidence-based policy-making in the Region. With the Baltic countries having made remarkable progress on alcohol policy in recent years, this side event offers a timely opportunity to strengthen the evidence-to-policy pathway on alcohol labelling, connecting science with practice and supporting a coordinated regional response to alcohol-related harm.