The actions of secondary prevention of alcohol abuse and alcoholism in the primary medical attention confront barriers that difficult their attention, beginning with those of the patient him or herself, those of the family physician and the multidisciplinary staff, and finally, those corresponding to the system of attention itself. The objective of this study is to show a review of international literature and experiences in Mexico, which present secondary prevention strategies that facilitate the family physician his or her performance in the containment of alcoholism through early detection and brief intervention. In this paper, we present an operative model that the World Health Organization made in 2001 as an advice of its experts on the problem, combining early detection through the application of the "Identification test of disorders due to alcohol addiction, abuse and/or dependence" (AUDIT) and based on the score obtained, it applies an intervention strategy that goes from the simple piece of advice to the brief therapy and if it is necessary, the derivation.