The Ghana Alcohol Policy Alliance (GhanAPA) has called for check on the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to market brands of alcoholic beverages.
GhanAPA also wants regulators to ensure that foundations are established by the alcoholic industries to front for CSIR to be treated as an extension of the industry.
GhanAPA is a network of civil society organisations (CSOs) working on alcohol prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and control in Ghana.
The alliance has its members from Ghanaian based non-governmental organisations, and works in close collaboration with local and international agencies to eliminate alcohol use by minors and venerable groups.
Speaking at a media training workshop on ‘Alcohol Prevention and Control’ in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Labram Musah, the General Secretary of GhanAPA, said the harmful use of alcohol has been a cause of great concern since its harmful effects were manifesting in diverse ways with regards to the country’s health burden.
Mr Musah said the current trend of consumption and the inadequate regulatory framework by Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has become a great source of worry for stakeholders advocating for its effective control and supervision with the necessary legal framework.
He was worried that the use of alcohol was the cause of many problems ranging from serious health effects on families, communities and societies.
Mr Musah said that as of 2014, Ghana’s population, which was estimated at 24 million with the youth constituting 61.7 per cent, 23.3 per cent of the population (15 years and above), were into alcohol consumption.
He said currently, there were many policies and regulations on various aspects of alcohol, adding, “There is therefore the need to pool all these laws into one docket under the Public Health Act.”
According to Mr Musah, regulation had become very challenging since the alcoholic industries have used many strategies and tactics in advancing, marketing and selling their products.
Mr Musah said the motive of the alcohol industry was to maintain its clientele base, and recruit new customers, especially, children to guarantee maximum profit from the sale of alcoholic products.
Mr Percy Adomako Agyekum, Head of Food Evaluation and Registration Department of the FDA, said the authority was strengthening the registration requirements to monitor the production and sales of alcohol in the country.
“We have put in place measures to ensure that the industry players adhere strictly to guidelines with maximum compliance, especially, in advert placement and the time to play the advert in order to eliminate the chances of minors watching them.”
Mr Agyekum said the FDA would continue to sanction recalcitrant industry players, who would not want to play by the rules whilst engaging the media to ensure strict compliance to the guidelines governing the play of alcoholic beverage advert.
By LAWRENCE MARKWEI
