Alcohol harms Reduction Policy green paper open for public comment
19 September 2016
The provincial government’s Alcohol-Related Harms Reduction Policy green paper has today been gazetted, and is now available for public comment.
The draft policy is a result of extensive research and input from a diverse public sector working group, commissioned by the Western Cape Government. The policy is intended to guide the government’s approach to the regulation of alcohol in the province.
Research indicates that South Africans drink more alcohol than people from most other countries. The average consumption of pure alcohol per drinker is estimated at 27.1 litres per year, placing South African drinkers at the upper end of global consumption.
Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug countrywide. In 2013, it was recognised as the 3rd leading risk factor for death and disability in South Africa, following unsafe sex and obesity. It is also a dominant substance of abuse in the Western Cape. Cases of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder recorded in the Western Cape are among the highest in the country.It is for this reason that Alcohol-Related harms reduction has been identified by the Western Cape Government, as a Game Changer – a key area of focus in the current term of office.