ABSTRACT
The word ‘prevention’ derives from two roots. The first is ‘pre’ which is the Latin for ‘before’; the second part either derives from the Latin ‘venire’ meaning coming or the French ‘venue’ meaning event. Since prevention is therefore activity focusing on what occurs before the event, then it must attend to the processes involved in the causation of events. The word prevention is also used in a variety of ways, and it is necessary to distinguish these uses from each other since they represent different aims of preventative effort. A prevention programme could include direct and indirect activity at more than one level, and it is thus important to clarify the aim of preventative action at each level to avoid confusion and possible contradiction. Alcohol-related consequences are those consequences which are a direct result of the consumption of alcohol.
