Law on Alcohol Regulation in Ghana will be very Useful – Hon. Tina Mensah      

Honorable Member of Parliament (MP) for the Weija-Gbawe constituency, Tina Gifty Ayele Mensah, who is also a member of the Gender and Children Committee has said that a legislation to regulate Alcohol Consumption to give the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) the legal backing to arrest and sanction offenders will be very valuable to the country. The legislator made the remark at a meeting with a delegation from the Ghana Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (GhNCDA) which is seeking the support of stakeholders for a Legislative Instrument to regulate alcohol consumption in Ghana.

Chairman of the Media Alliance in Tobacco Control and Health (MATCOH), Jeorge Wilson Kingson, who led the delegation, explained that since the National Alcohol Policy (NAP) was inaugurated in 2017, the implementation has faced major challenges leading to its ineffectiveness. He said the Alliance has therefore deemed it necessary to undertake various research works into alcohol consumption in Ghana so as to present stakeholders with credible data to enhance a decision to formulate a law to make the NAP enforceable in Ghana.

Kingson also explained that, the alliance is also proposing stiff taxation measures on alcohol beverages in the country to reduce its intake.

“As a member of the Children and Gender Committee of Parliament, it will interest you to know that the data shows that there is an increase in alcohol disorder among women and girls in the country. The data on the rate of alcohol consumption in Ghana looks really frightening and it will do this nation a lot of good if you can use your position and influence ensure that the regulation is approved,” he said.

Madam Tina Mensah, who doubles as the Deputy Minister of Health, remarked that there are many laws that are not effectively implemented and that the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that are championing the legislative instrument must work efficiently with the enforcing agencies for an effective implementation of the policy when it is passed into law. She reiterated the importance of the legislative instrument to curtailing unwarranted health challenges and death due to alcohol consumption, especially among the youth.

“I think that the law must give the Food and Drugs Authority the backing to arrest and sanction those who will flout it, especially those minors who sit at bars and go to buy alcoholic beverages, they must be penalized by the law,” she noted.

She lauded the suggestion that funds accumulated from the major taxation measures on alcohol should be directed at funding healthcare, especially alcohol and NCD related diseases and prevention programmes.

Executive Director of Generational Youth Foundation (GYF), Francis Essel, who was part of the GhNCDA delegation, assured the MP of the commitment of the Alliance in monitoring the alcoholic sector and the implementing partners to ensure that every clause is strictly adhered to and effectively implemented should the regulations be approved. Essel said the alliance will be seeking audience with her to tap into her vast pool of knowledge to make the Legislative instrument very potent.

Other members of the GhNCDA delegation include Christopher Agbegah of ShareCare Ghana, and Madam Yvonne Tetteh of the Ark Lifestyle Foundation.

By Derick Botsyoe || ghananewsonline.com.gh