The ICAP Blue Book offers a comprehensive guide to the key issues in alcohol policy development and an integrated approach to prevention.  It draws upon the best available research and experience from around the world.

As a policy guide, the ICAP Blue Book is based on three key elements:

·        drinking patterns and their outcomes as a sound scientific basis for policy development;

·        targeted interventions that address specific “at-risk” populations, potentially harmful contexts, and drinking patterns;

·        partnerships that allow the inclusion of the public and private sectors, the community, and civil society all working toward a common goal.

It is intended as a tool to assist those seeking guidance in developing policy and prevention approaches, be they governments, intergovernmental organizations, public health officials and specialists, researchers, nongovernmental organizations, the beverage alcohol industry and its related bodies, or civil society organizations interested in alcohol policy development.

The Blue Book is intended to be a living document, taking into account new materials and responsive to the needs of its users. As a result, the most current version of the Blue Book can be found on the ICAP website (see links below).  We encourage users to rely primarily on the electronic version and to print the text that is available on our website.  However, if you do not have the resources to print these materials, please contact us to request printouts.

After you've taken the opportunity to review the ICAP Blue Book, please submit any and all feedback via the Blue Book Evaluation form.  We appreciate your comments and will leverage them as we continually update this resource.

To assist stakeholders in using the Blue Book to develop approaches to individual issues or comprehensive alcohol policies at the local or national level, a simple protocol, the Alcohol Policy Seminar (APS), has been developed.  Information about the APS, its implementation, and ICAP’s partners in its development is available at www.alcoholseminar.org.