AA is a worldwide fellowship of people who meet
together to attain and maintain sobriety. AA has grown to an estimated
87,000 groups in more than 130 countries, with a total membership of more
than 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.