Imagine there's an illness that kills 85,000 people every year. Then imagine that we know how to treat the illness, but we only find one out of every 20 people who have it. There would be a national outcry to diagnose and treat the victims.

Alcohol is a leading cause of preventable medical conditions, disability, and death. Alcohol problems affect one in 12 adults--or 17 million people--in the United States (more than high blood pressure, asthma, or arthritis). But less than three million get any kind of treatment.

Alcohol problems are similar to chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. There are three components of an effective workplace response: