The University of Cape Town and the SA Medical Research Council have launched a five-year multidisciplinary project to address harmful alcohol use in South Africa and Botswana, focusing on the political, economic and social drivers of this in the two countries, reports News24.
It will also assess the far-reaching impacts of harmful drinking.
UCT spokesperson Velisile Bukula said the goal was to provide evidence to support effective policies and community interventions, to reduce alcohol-related harm.
Titled Collaboration for Harm Reduction and Alcohol Safety in the Environment in Southern Africa (CHASE-SA), it’s being co-led by UCT’s Division of Public Health Medicine in the School of Public Health and the SAMRC, and also involves the University of Botswana, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, and civil society organisations such as the Southern Africa Alcohol Policy Alliance.
Bukula added that South Africa’s high rates of heavy episodic drinking contributed to 7% of the country’s national disease burden.
“Its harmful effects also intersect with pressing public health and social issues, including gender-based violence, trauma-related injuries, and heightened HIV and TB infection risks,” he said, noting that the Western Cape had one of the highest reported rates of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the world.
The researchers will explore how political, commercial, environmental, and socio-cultural factors influence harmful drinking behaviours, particularly in historically disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Honorary UCT Professor and head of the SAMRC’s Burden of Disease Research Unit, Richard Matzopoulos, said it was the first large-scale study in southern Africa to map the alcohol environment comprehensively, and would range from industry supply chains to community-level drinking norms, linking these to health and social outcomes.
“We want to understand not just who drinks and how much, but why harmful drinking is so entrenched, and what levers exist for change,” he said.
As alcohol consumption declines in many high-income countries, global alcohol companies are increasingly targeting low- and middle-income nations where the burden of alcohol-related harm is particularly severe.
“South Africa’s Covid-19 alcohol sales bans revealed how quickly harm could be reduced, with significant declines in trauma-related hospital admissions,” Matzopoulos added.
“It prompted an industry backlash but alerted the public to the extent of alcohol-associated risks. This has provided rare impetus for considering better alcohol policy.”
Evidence alone does not change policy, but evidence co-created with communities and decision-makers can, he pointed out.
“Our goal is to build the evidence base and the coalitions needed to reduce alcohol-related harm and strengthen public health.”
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