The Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) has issued an advisory to all medical associations in India, stating that alcohol should be avoided in medical conferences, workshops, seminars, and CME sessions to set an example of good habits that can be emulated by others. 

The advisory aims to reduce the risk factors and the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the long run. 

Alcohol consumption is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases, injuries, and other health conditions according to the WHO, and is associated with a risk of developing mental and behavioural disorders, liver cirrhosis, some cancers, and cardiovascular diseases. 

Additionally, NCDs are estimated to account for 63% of all deaths in country. Cardiovascular diseases caused 27% of the deaths, followed by respiratory diseases (11%), cancer (9%), diabetes (3%) and others (13%), as per the WHO-NCD India profile (2018).

The rise of NCDs in India has been driven by primarily four major risk factors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diet.