Literature Review Methodology
Societal Costs of Alcohol Angela Gaffney, Jessica Rudder, Chris Clark, in Sub-Saharan Africa Robert Plotnick & C. Leigh Anderson EPAR Brief No. 269 Prepared for the Agricultural Policy Team of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Professor Leigh Anderson, Principal Investigator Associate Professor Mary Kay Gugerty, Principal Investigator May 21, 2014 Summary of Key Findings Drinking Patterns & Commercial Alcohol Production • While total alcohol consumption in Africa has been relatively stable over the past twenty years (1990-2010), some countries have experienced increases or decreases in total alcohol consumption in the past ten years. These changes are partially driven by changing income, employment rates, or availability of commercially produced alcohol. • Abstention is still the most common drinking pattern in SSA. Six of the forty-three African countries (Algeria, Guinea, Senegal, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania) had abstention rates over 90% in the prior twelve months, and abstention rates in most countries (36 out of 43) is between 50% and 89%. • Recent data suggest that market liberalization has increased the availability of alcohol, particularly for groups of lower socio-economic status (SES), increasing consumption particularly among those who face the greatest social burden. • Multinational brewing companies in SSA have shifted to local supply chains, and currently all major brewers partially substitute imported barley with sorghum and other locally produced crops. • While many countries in SSA have signed drug control and prevention conventions including the UN Drug Control Convention, national alcohol policies are a relatively recent development and have been subject to alcohol industry influence. Health Costs • In Sub-Saharan Africa, alcohol use contributed to 3.4% of total deaths and 2.2% of total DALYs in 2010.
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