Alcohol policy process in Malawi: Making it happen

Ferreira‐Borges, Carina; Endal, Dag; Babor, Thomas F.; Dias, Sónia; Kachiwiya, Maganizo; Zakeyu, Nelson

doi:10.7895/ijadr.v3i3.156

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Institutional and human capacity, surveillance systems and research capable of generating appropriate epidemiological evidence are important but underdeveloped categories . Other factors hindering implementation of evidence‐based policy are the lack of concern for alcohol's contribution to health and social harm , the strong influence of the alcohol industry, as noted recently in countries such as South Africa and Malawi , the lack of coherence between policies within government sectors and the absence of intersectoral platforms and community involvement in the policy dialogue .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol and public health in Africa: can we prevent alcohol-related harm from increasing?

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To address the emerging risk factors associated with increased alcohol consumption, African governments need to take a more active role in protecting the public's health. In particular, important strategic shifts are needed to increase implementation of intersectoral strategies, community involvement in the policy dialogue, health services re-orientation and better regulation of the alcohol beverage industry.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol and public health in Africa: can we prevent alcohol-related harm from increasing?

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is reported sometimes to contain non-food alcohol [ 13 ]. Malawi has developed a model National Alcohol Policy [ 14 ] and there are plans for a ban on the sachets [ 15 ]; the impact on alcohol related deaths may be assessed in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns and risk factors for deaths from external causes in rural Malawi over 10 years: a prospective population-based study

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundLittle is known about the pattern or risk factors for deaths from external causes in sub-Saharan Africa: there is a lack of reliable data, and public health priorities have been focussed on other causes. This study assessed the prevalence and risk factor for deaths from external causes in rural Malawi.MethodsWe analysed data from 2002–2012 from the Karonga demographic surveillance site which covers ~35,000 people in rural northern Malawi. Verbal autopsies with clinician coding are used to assign cause of death. Repeated annual surveys capture data on socio-economic factors. Using Poisson regression models we calculated age, sex and cause-specific rates and rate ratios of external deaths. We used a nested case–control study, matched on age, sex and time period, to investigate risk factors for these deaths, using conditional logistic regression.ResultsIn 315,580 person years at risk (pyar) there were 2673 deaths, including 143 from external causes. The mortality rate from external causes was 47.1/100,000 pyar (95 % CI 32.5-68.2) among under-fives; 20.1/100,000 pyar (95 % CI 13.1–32.2) among 5–14 year olds; 46.3/100,000 pyar (95 % CI 35.8–59.9) among 15–44 year olds; and 98.7/100,000 pyar (95 % CI 71.8–135.7) among those aged ≥45 years. Drowning (including four deaths in people with epilepsy), road injury and suicide were the leading external causes. Adult males had the highest rates (100.7/100,000 pyar), compared to 21.8/100,000pyar in adult females, and the rate continued to increase with increasing age in men. Alcohol contributed to 21 deaths, all in adult males. Children had high rates of drowning (9.2/100,000 pyar, 95 % CI 5.5-15.6) but low rates of road injury (2.6/100,000 pyar, 95 % CI 1.0–7.0). Among 5–14 year olds, attending school was associated with fewer deaths from external causes than among those who had never attended school (adjusted OR 0.15, 95 % CI 0.08-0.81). Fishermen had increased risks of death from drowning and suicide compared to farmers.DiscussionIn this population the rate of deaths from external causes was lowest at age 5–14 years. Adult males had the highest rate of death from external causes, 5 times the rate in adult females. Drowning, road injury and suicide were the leading causes of death; alcohol consumption contributed to more than one quarter of the deaths in menConclusionsThe high proportion of alcohol-related deaths in men, the predominance of drowning, deaths linked to uncontrolled epilepsy, and the possible protective effect of school attendance suggest areas for intervention.

show abstract

“…The alcohol industry has also become very active in blocking any policies that might constitute a possible threat to their business interests [ 54 ]. This has been the case with policy development in Malawi, which was delayed for more than 7 years before it could be implemented [ 55 ]. Similar tactics were used in Botswana, involving high-profile legal battles [ 56 ] and recently in South Africa with the proposal for a marketing ban [ 37 , 57 ] and with the 2016 Liquor Amendment Bill which aims among other things to raise the drinking age in South Africa [ 58 , 59 ].…”

Section: Barriers and Way Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harmful Use of Alcohol: A Shadow over Sub-Saharan Africa in Need of Workable Solutions

Ferreira‐Borges

Parry

Babor

2017

IJERPH

Self Cite

119

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Alcohol consumption and alcohol-attributable burden of disease in Africa are expected to rise in the near future, yet. increasing alcohol-related harm receives little attention from policymakers and from the population in general. Even where new legislation is proposed it is rarely enacted into law. Being at the center of social and cultural activities in many countries, alcohol’s negative role in society and contribution to countries’ burden of disease are rarely questioned. After the momentum created by the adoption in 2010 of the WHO Global Strategy and the WHO Regional Strategy (for Africa) to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol, and the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, in 2013, little seems to have been done to address the increasing use of alcohol, its associated burden and the new challenges that derive from the growing influence of the alcohol industry in Africa. In this review, we argue that to have a positive impact on the health of African populations, action addressing specific features of alcohol policy in the continent is needed, namely focusing on particularities linked to alcohol availability, like unrecorded and illicit production, outlet licensing, the expansion of formal production, marketing initiatives and taxation policies.

show abstract

Alcohol policy process in Malawi: Making it happen

Cited by 9 publications

References 8 publications

Alcohol and public health in Africa: can we prevent alcohol-related harm from increasing?

Alcohol and public health in Africa: can we prevent alcohol-related harm from increasing?

Patterns and risk factors for deaths from external causes in rural Malawi over 10 years: a prospective population-based study

Harmful Use of Alcohol: A Shadow over Sub-Saharan Africa in Need of Workable Solutions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About