Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Alcohol Treatment Access and Harm Prevention in West Africa: Reports from NGOs and Community-Based Organizations

Abstract

Background Recent research highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted alcohol consumption patterns, yet research thus far has largely overlooked the experience in West Africa. Research also has not addressed how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected access to alcohol treatment, support, and alcohol harm prevention. This study addresses this research gap in West Africa, a low-resource setting with a very high burden of alcohol harm. Objectives To understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol use, access to alcohol, treatment access, and alcohol harm prevention activities in West Africa. Methods This study analyzed data from a cross-sectional online survey conducted in August and September of 2020 and distributed by the West Africa Alcohol Policy Alliance to their member alliances and stakeholders across nine countries (N = 140 participants) to understand their perceptions on COVID-19 and alcohol-related topics. Results Our findings convey a significant adverse impact on alcohol-focused NGOs and community-based organizations in West Africa. Overall, 94% of participants indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted their organizations’ work. In addition, 71% of participants reported reduced access to alcohol treatment or support in their communities. Lastly, 44% of the respondents indicated that people in their community drank less alcohol than usual, and only 33% answered that they perceived it to be harder to get alcohol. Conclusions These data underscore the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across West Africa with respect to accessing alcohol treatment and organizational capacity to address alcohol harm. With the lack of infrastructure to address alcohol harm, this impact could exacerbate the high level of alcohol use and harm in the region.

Organizational structure, capacity and reach of organizations involved in alcohol prevention: An assessment of stakeholders across five countries in East Africa

“…They found that the median prevalence of reported youth drinking was 52% (Francis et al, 2014). Other recent studies on alcohol in East Africa have focused on specific countries and populations, including research on the prevalence of alcohol misuse among adolescent girls and young women in Uganda (Mayanja et al, 2020); alcohol use linked to child physical abuse in slums in Kampala, Uganda (Culbreth et al, 2021;Swahn et al, 2017); sexual-related harm in Kampala, Uganda (Swahn, Balenger, Umenze, Aneja et al, 2022); intimate partner violence and gender-based violence, HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Kampala, Uganda (Culbreth et al, 2021;Culbreth et al, 2020;; the prevalence and key drivers of adult alcohol use in rural Kenya (Takahashi et al, 2017); alcohol use among injured patients in Moshi, Tanzania; alcohol among youth in urban Tanzania (Sommer et al, 2021); and drug use among youth in Rwanda (Kanyoni et al, 2015). Because of this fragmented approach to alcohol research in East Africa, researchers have not yet comprehensively assessed or identified priorities for the prevention of alcohol-related harm in this region although there has been a call for the development of an alcohol research agenda (Swahn et al, 2023).…”

Service-level barriers to and facilitators of accessibility to treatment for problematic alcohol use: a scoping review

“…Temporal constraints may account, in part, for the paucity of COVID-19 literature identified, as pandemic-related delays in the conduct and peer review of primary research may have precluded publication prior to our April 2022 search date. Additionally, our review eligibility requirement of service-level barriers meant that studies reporting only policy-level barriers related to the pandemic more broadly, such as lockdowns (7,161), were ineligible for inclusion. Strategies to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 by substance use treatment facilities early in the pandemic were reported in a scoping review (12).…”

Impact of COVID‐19 and restricted self‐help group attendance on drinking behavior among people with alcohol use disorder: Results of a nationwide cross‐sectional survey

“…However, there is limited research on the impact of COVID‐19 on patients undergoing treatment for AUD or those seeking recovery from AUD. Several studies have reported that accessibility to addiction treatment declined in the early stages of the pandemic (Balhara et al, 2020; Swahn et al, 2022). For example, during the lockdown in India in March 2020, a survey of 72 AUD patients was conducted by phone.…”