Phase I of the plan includes among its objectives the strengthening of the contribution of primary health care to the prevention and management of the harm caused by alcohol. A WHO Working Group was convened to consider how this might be done and what role the primary care physician might play. The group discussed research findings that suggest the usefulness of brief interventions by physicians in the primary health care setting. The group also proposed a model for intervention based on the levels of patients' alcohol consumption. The group discussed barriers to effective intervention and suggested strategies for overcoming them. The Working Group listed 12 competencies needed by primary health care providers, suggested a number of important tasks at various levels, and made recommendations on the education and training of primary health care physicians for their new role. Recommendations are to list the objectives of education and training programs, to describe the context for such programs, to outline their contents, and to highlight the need for a multidisciplinary approach to training. 2 tables and appended lists of working papers and participants