In May 2019, the North South Alcohol Policy Advisory Group (NSAPAG) convened a knowledge exchange forum in Belfast. This day-long event brought together academics, policy makers, clinicians, and the community and voluntary sector from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England to consider effective policy measures to tackle the harms caused by alcohol. I would like to thank the participants and particularly our guest speakers. Their willingness to share their valuable expertise and experience contributed to this highly relevant forum.

The forum aimed to share knowledge on approaches to monitoring strategies to reduce alcohol-related harm in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It also facilitated an opportunity to gather insights from the roll-out of the new monitoring system in Scotland, and to explore the potential for partnership working to reduce alcohol-related harms. The discussions held about the challenges and opportunities faced by governments in monitoring the impact of strategies are of interest to anyone involved in alcohol policy or public health; particularly to colleagues working towards the Healthy Ireland and Making Life Better frameworks.

This resource has been produced as a follow-up to the exchange. It presents an overview of the key takeaways, along with a summary of each speaker’s presentation. You can also view the presentations on our website. I hope you find these resources useful to inform your work.