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In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Addiction Research Foundation (Canada), with the help of contributors from more than 80 countries in the six WHO regions, published a [...], Since its inception in 1997, the Global Alcohol Database (GAD) has undergone several iterations and brings together information on a number of topics across countries: alcohol and health situations; consequences of alcohol consumption; trends in alcohol use and related mortality; alcohol production; trade; health effects; and national alcohol control measures and policies. Efforts have been made to make this database compatible with the World Health Organization (WHO) International Guide for Monitoring Alcohol Consumption and Related Harm. A set of indicators was chosen that assesses the most important aspects of the alcohol situation in WHO Member States as they relate to public health. The indicators are grouped into seven broad categories: alcohol production and availability; levels of consumption; patterns of consumption; harms and consequences; economic aspects; alcohol control policies; and prevention, treatment and drinking guidelines. Contents of the GAD are available on the WHO's Global Information on Alcohol and Health Website. KEY WORDS: Global, alcohol, database, indicators, policy, research.

This study examines characteristics of work sites related to the establishment of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and drug testing programs. A sample of 633 human resources managers at work sites with 100 or more employees across Canada completed a questionnaire on their work site characteristics and the types of programs available (response rate = 77.8%). Work sites with EAPs had significantly (p< .01) fewer visible minorities, were more likely to be unionized (p< .0001), and had less hierarchical management styles (p< .00001) than work sites without EAPs. For drug testing programs, significant differences were found across provinces (p< .00001) for work sites that delivered goods to the United States (p< .01), and for those in the safety-sensitive work sectors (p< .00001). Results suggest that the presence of an EAP is an indication of an employee benefit and is more likely to exist in work sites with nonhierarchical management styles, and that drug testing programs are linked to geopolitical issues and safety concerns.