Regulating alcohol packaging and supply to protect health in Sub-Saharan Africa: lessons from policy systems in Malawi and Uganda (RAPSSA) Project

Project details

Consuming alcohol ('drinking') causes cancers and other NCDs globally and more than 3 million people died due to harmful use of alcohol in 2016 (1 in 20 deaths). It has impacts on economic productivity and can lead to addiction, violent behaviors, injuries, and road-traffic collisions. It also impacts on health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where those system already face significant challenges. As a result, Malawi and Uganda placed national bans on sachets of alcohol in Malawi (2016) and Uganda (2019), but those may not have had the impact anticipated. The issue of the alcohol sachets and the policies to ban them needed to be studied to compare both countries and to see what lessons could be learnt. The project’s aim was to research and understand why the bans were adopted and how they were presented, what mechanisms for implementation were proposed and put in place, how the bans were enforced in practice, and what unintended consequences may have occurred. It also examined perceptions of changes in harmful drinking within the community and amongst young people; and whether local health facility staff have seen changes in terms of addiction and harm at facility level because of the bans. The results were shared with stakeholders at special events in Malawi and Uganda. Dissemination continues at local and international conferences. The study involved University of Malawi collaborating with Makerere University, National Institute for Medical Research, University of Cape Town, University of Stirling and University of Edinburgh. It was being funded by Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom.