Government must keep same energy against alcohol as they have for tobacco

While the national department of health goes all out with the proposed Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill before parliament, experts have questioned why the same Bill is not proposed for alcohol, as it causes much greater harm than tobacco.

The department yesterday concluded a series of tobacco control webinars with the focus on various policies developed for guiding tobacco control in SA. But experts said it continued to drag its feet with implementing stricter alcohol regulations.

When asked what the department was doing on stricter alcohol regulations, spokesperson Foster Mohale gave The Citizen a thumbs up in response to a question on WhatsApp.

Ban on alcohol advertising

Maurice Smithers, director of Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance in SA, said alcohol harm as a social justice and human rights issue seemed to be a blind spot for many people.

Smithers said there was an attempt to ban alcohol advertising in 2013, but even though Cabinet approved the Bill, it was never released for public comment because of resistance from the alcohol, media and advertising industries.

“Cabinet itself was divided and the Bill eventually went nowhere,” he said.

“The new national liquor policy of 2016 calls for restrictions or a ban on alcohol advertising and the Liquor Amendment Bill included provisions for limiting advertising.

“That Bill, too, has gone nowhere, despite repeated appeals to the department of trade, industry and competition to send it to parliament for consideration.”

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He added there appeared to be a lack of political will to tackle the alcohol issue head-on, despite all that was learnt about the challenges of alcohol during the Covid pandemic and after the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy, and shooting incidents at taverns countrywide.

“The alcohol industry is getting richer and stronger by the day – the globalisation of the alcohol industry is concentrating ownership in a few hands and giving the few global alcohol giants the wealth and power to dictate alcohol policy in many countries,” he said.

“And the people who are affected by the harms caused by alcohol are seemingly powerless to determine when, where and how alcohol is sold and consumed.”

SA lagging behind

A director at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Prof Charles Parry, said South Africa was lagging behind with alcohol regulation policies.

Parry said it was a lot easier to deal with tobacco because there was consensus that tobacco was harmful, “whereas with alcohol, there’s a lot of industry pressure”.

“There’s a lot of confusion about the harms of alcohol and we’re a wine-producing country and export a lot of alcohol.

“The liquor industry has a lot of influence and that’s part of the reason we haven’t really moved forward with alcohol, because of industry interference.

“None of the politicians are committed to address alcohol in the same way that the minister of health is dealing with tobacco.”

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Asanda Gcoyi, Vapour Products Association South Africa chief executive, slammed the Bill, saying they were not opposed to the regulation as an industry, but noted the Bill was not taking into consideration many other factors.

She said, based on research from other countries, vapes were less harmful than cigarettes and should be considered as an alternative to smoking.

However, Dr Catherine Egbe, SA Medical Research Council’s specialist scientist in alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, said there wasn’t enough research to conclude vaping was a solution to the harmful effects of tobacco.