Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a worldwide fellowship of people who meet together to attain and maintain sobriety. It originated in 1935 when Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., a surgeon, met in Akron, Ohio, and started to help each other to stay sober. From that modest beginning, AA has grown, as of 2006, to an estimated 106,202 groups in 139 countries, with a total membership of nearly 2 million.

All men and women who feel they have a drinking problem are welcome to attend any AA meeting. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Members are anonymous at the public level, and no dues or fees are required; contributions are entirely voluntary. The AA programme is one of total abstinence, in which members are encouraged to stay away from “one drink, one day at a time”. Their sobriety is maintained by sharing their experience, strength, and hope at group meetings, and following the suggested 12 Steps to recovery. Even isolated alcoholics, who are housebound or living in remote regions, without access to AA groups, can seek help from the Loners' programme. This is rather like a penfriend service and is operated by the General Service Office in New York. Intergroup offices in most urban areas provide information on times and places of nearby meetings.

A board of trustees, consisting of both non-alcoholics and AA members, administers the organization's activities in each country in which it operates. Regional delegates vote on matters of general significance at annual conferences; an international convention is held every five years. Alcoholics Anonymous (1939; 3rd edition, 1976), by Bill W. and others, explains how the AA programme works and contains the 12 Steps recovery programme.