Participants at a Conference on Alcohol Harm Prevention have called for the establishment of strong policy regulation on alcohol to foster an effective control on its use, marketing and availability in the country.
They spoke at the 1st National Conference and fifth Annual General Meeting of the Association of Advocates Against Alcohol Harm in Nigeria (ASAAHN) on Friday in Lagos.
The conference has the theme: “Strengthening Alcohol Policy Advocacy and Harm Prevention and Reduction for a Healthier Nigeria”.
A Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Lagos State University, Oluranti Samuel, decried the rate of alcohol access and use in Nigeria, as it was being sold at every corner of the society.
Samuel, who reiterated the need for strict policy regulation on alcohol use in the country, said it required a multifaceted approach involving the policymakers, government, parents, community and the schools.
He lamented that effects of alcohol to human future, health and the economy at large, calling on the regulatory agencies like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to up its efforts by collaborating with other organisations to foster effective monitoring and enforcement.
He noted that alcohol intoxicates and controls an individual like a spirit, pushing people beyond their intentions.
“There’s a need for us to have alcohol policy in Nigeria. What we have these days – children and youths involving in alcohol intake and the sales of alcohol is seen anywhere, anyhow and anytime.
“It is not helping the future of this nation because the human beings especially the youth are the future of this nation. If we have access to alcohol uncontrollably the way we have it presently in the country, it will affect our future human capital.
“Hence, the need for us to have a policy to prevent against alcohol taking in this country.
“In most countries where such policy exists, it doesn’t stop unemployment. I believe that if we have the policy, it will not affect employment.
“It will even enhance human capital, making people to be healthier and will even reduce the cost of money we spend on medicals in this country, because alcohol does a lot of harm to health, causing cancer, liver problems and cardiovascular diseases,” Samuel said.
The President, West Africa Network of Civil Society Organisations on Substance Abuse, Mr Eze Eluchie, called for increased taxation on alcohol drinks to discourage its use of alcohol become very high, a lot of people will be discouraged from consuming it.
The Lagos State Coordinator, Child Protection Network, Mrs Aderonke Oyelakin called on the parents to rise up to their responsibility of inculcating right morals and values in their children to enable them resist alcohol influence.
Oyelakin, who identified peer pressure as major influencer for alcohol use among teenagers, said that with right values/morals, the children would be able to resist the peer pressure when it comes.
Earlier, the ASAAHN National Chairman, Nwokocha Chijioke, said the conference was organised to strengthen alcohol advocacy and to mobilise government, civil society and families toward a healthier Nigeria.
Chijioke emphasised that prevention must come before treatment, especially as the alcohol industry increasingly targets teenagers, citing heart-breaking cases of young Nigerians suffering liver damage and even death due to early alcohol use.
According to him, parents, communities and policymakers must unite to protect children and the youths.
Beyond disease prevention, the ASAAHN National Chairman highlighted the effects of alcohol in domestic violence, road accidents, emotional trauma and family instability.
“We are here to make a statement—to reshape our advocacy efforts and chart a new course against the harmful effects of alcohol.
“The cost of treatment is far more expensive than prevention.
“When a drunk driver kills someone, the ripple effect destroys entire families,” he said.
