Alan Winde | Alcohol ban: South Africa needs to act smarter
The Western Cape is considering some solutions to ensure the alcohol industry survives the Covid-19 pandemic and is not hit by an unemployment pandemic, writes Alan Winde.
The new alcohol ban announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week has understandably resulted in many emotionally charged responses.
On the one hand, excessive and dangerous alcohol consumption is resulting in trauma that is impacting our hospitals at a time when the country must ensure Covid-19 patients receive care.
On the other hand, the ban is likely to result in a major economic impact and severe job losses in a second, equally dangerous “unemployment pandemic”.
These two seem like the opposite ends of a see-saw – you cannot change one without having a significant impact on the other side.
Across the country, Covid-19 infections are rising. As the first province to experience a rapid increase in cases, we know how vital it is to ensure we have those beds in place – especially in our ICUs and high care units. Removing alcohol from the equation can have an almost immediate impact in freeing up beds in our healthcare system.
But a sustained, long-term ban is a blunt instrument that does not address the root problems and will not solve the alcohol problem that this country faces.
We must also find evidence-led and long-term solutions for these problematic behaviours that are so prevalent in South Africa and which impact on crime, violence, addiction, and our healthcare systems.
Trauma reports
The Western Cape Department of Health has prepared reports which track trauma admissions to five hospitals in the province, comparing admissions before the alcohol ban, during the alcohol ban, and after the alcohol, ban was lifted again.
These reports show a significant decrease in people presenting to our hospitals for trauma during the alcohol ban, and a significant rise in the numbers again after the ban was lifted on 1 June.
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