On World Alcohol Free Day, 2022, which falls on third October, 2022, the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD Ghana), the Ghana NCD Alliance, Community Health Support Team, and different Civil Society Actors in Ghana joins individuals and communities all over the world to; increase consciousness on the advantages of an alcohol-free lifestyle, highlighting the destructive affect of alcohol on health and society and encourage world leaders and nationwide decision-makers to undertake/implement alcohol coverage options that defend and promote the human proper to health and improvement.
Some advantages of alcohol-free days:
The UK’s pointers say, “If you wish to cut down the amount you drink, a good way to help achieve this is to have several alcohol-free days each week.” A drinker Drinkers who has tailored the apply of alcohol-free days experiences the next advantages:
Feels more healthy usually.
Sleeps higher.
Have extra power.
Losses weight.
Concentrates higher.
Saves cash.
Feel extra in charge of ingesting.
Learned extra about when and why they drink.
Realizes don’t want a drink to get pleasure from themselves.
Despite the advantages, there’s a deliberate try by the trade by their advertising ways to forestall drinkers from attaining full health advantages.
Additionally, we proceed to categorical our disappointment on how some celebrities and media commentators endorse and promote alcohol commercials due to their private features, with out recourse to the hurt alcohol inflicts on individuals’s health. The safety of kids, youth in addition to public health and security should be a main concern for all.
VALD Ghana commend the Ministry of Health by the Food and Drugs Authority for proscribing alcohol commercial on TV and radio from 6am – 8pm in addition to the ban on well-known celebrities from promoting alcohol. However, there may be nonetheless extra work to be achieved particularly with regards to alcohol advertising, alcohol accessibility and affordability so as to successfully regulate the trade. More and intense efforts are wanted on the nationwide degree to defend individuals’s proper to dwell free from alcohol and to promote health and well-being, in addition to improvement by alcohol use prevention.
Alcohol consumption is a causal issue in additional than 200 illnesses, accidents and different health situations together with home violence and street visitors accidents. There is an increase to alcohol associated illnesses and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) together with cancers, stroke, liver issues, cardiovascular illnesses, psychological and behavioral dysfunction and many others. sadly, sufferers with these illnesses are unable to pay for therapy as a result of it is rather costly, and value of therapy will not be included within the profit bundle of the National Health Insurance.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), alcohol consumption contributes to 3 million deaths annually globally in addition to to the disabilities and poor health of tens of millions of individuals– a lot of them dwelling in low- and middle-income international locations, the place Ghana belongs. Notwithstanding this scary statistics, the alcohol trade is pushing aggressively to preserve their grip on grownup customers in addition to to provoke youngsters and the youth to alcohol use, which threatens the health, well-being and socio-economic improvement of nations comparable to Ghana.
The WHO Global Alcohol Strategy offers steerage for policy-makers in Ghana by encouraging them to assist youngsters, youth and adults of their alcohol-free lifestyle and to defend them from pressures to begin consuming alcohol.The majority of the worldwide grownup inhabitants dwell free from alcohol even in high-income international locations the place extra individuals eat alcohol. There is now a youth technology developing that chooses to keep alcohol-free longer, embracing more healthy, sustainable life-style selections.
As we rejoice the advantages of dwelling alcohol-free life on this 12 months’s World Alcohol-Free Day, we name on our political leaders to step up and take decisive actions that defend and assist all individuals to make more healthy selections for themselves, their households, communities and international locations at giant and avoiding each inaction that exposes Ghanaians to all types of alcohol as is at the moment taking place in Ghana.
VALD Ghana calls on the federal government by the Ministry of Health and Food and Drugs Authority to intensify their degree of dedication in the direction of defending the individuals by implementing and implementing a extra strong and lifesaving alcohol regulation.
“It’s NOW or NEVER; we name for an efficient alcohol coverage resolution as beneficial by the WHO SAFER bundle, particularly on elevating alcohol taxes, banning alcohol commercial, and consciously decreasing the supply of alcohol in our communities.
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