Stakeholders call for closer collaboration to reduce the misuse of alcohol

There are no two ways about it – the misuse of alcohol has been well documented, with key stakeholders often taking action to confront the issue within their respective domains. Why, then, does the problem still persist?

For the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and Red Stripe, the issue’s persistence can be chalked up to the passé practice of isolated self-regulation, which prevents stakeholders from coordinating their efforts.

Both entities recently joined forces to host a knowledge-sharing forum under the theme ‘The Foundations for Reducing the Misuse of Alcohol’, with the aim of laying the groundwork for a future where alcohol misuse is tackled from an integrated and whole-of-society approach involving the public and private sectors.

The virtual forum highlighted global best practices of alcohol regulation, which, in turn, revealed issues with our local industry and provided examples for more effective multi-stakeholder interventions.

GAPS IN LEGISLATION

Trevor Patterson, senior partner at Patterson Mair Hamilton, pointed to gaps in the existing local legislative framework regulating alcohol consumption. “There are currently four laws that deal with intoxication, each with an added element. We have the Town and Communities Act, the Road Traffic Act, and two other acts that deal with minors. The main problem with these is that the penalties are outdated – as with the $4 fine for petty offences in the Town and Communities Act - or they don’t adequately address the issue of who is legally culpable for the actions of an inebriated minor.”

While the forum recognised the need to update the current legal framework, a key takeaway was that leveraging ill-informed regulations, especially those that deal with misplaced taxes, could result in demonstrably negative effects.

Dr Patrick Antoine, international trade policy consultant at the Caribbean Breweries Association, noted, “As it relates to alcohol, we can all agree that some amount of restriction is important. The real question is, how much restriction sustains success? I think Trinidad has set a noteworthy precedent by applying the Danish model, which brings key public and private stakeholders together to coordinate efforts and supplant the need for excessive restrictions. This can be contrasted with Suriname, where there is less partnership and less success. In terms of our CARICOM region, the best practice we’ve seen is where we’ve been able to present a united front to create a working group for reducing the misuse of alcohol as part of the Council for Trade and Economic Development and the Council for Human and Social Development agenda.”

GLOBAL PRECEDENT

If regional trends that point towards a need for greater collaboration are not enough to convince sceptics, then certainly, a look at the precedent set by global authorities within the international community ought to suffice.

“The World Health Organizations’ Global Strategy on Reducing the Harmful Use of Alcohol is a great place to start this conversation,” said Dr Virginia Gidi, senior vice- president of multilateral and policy analysis at the US Office of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking. “Not only is it the sole global policy document outlining an approach that exists, but it takes into account approaches that can be applied by a diverse group of states with varied and robust economies. Two of the central ideas to the policy document’s approach is that it takes a harm-reduction perspective, and that it validates the integral role that economic operators have to play in achieving this harm- reduction role.”

Among those economic operators that the World Health Organization recognises as crucial to advancing a more sustainable framework are members within the alcohol industry. Local examples of the industry’s commitment to effecting change abound and are often welcomed.

Forum participant Kenute Hare, director of the Road Safety Unit at the Ministry of Transport and Mining, stated, “In modern times, the alcohol industry has recognised the negative effects alcohol can have on the individual. The fact that they have designed programmes that not only operate in accordance with the law, but that come out openly against alcohol misuse, is very good. I must say kudos to the team at Red Stripe, because they’ve been the only alcohol company in Jamaica that has reached out to the Road Safety Unit. We are happy to see other members of the alcohol industry stepping up to the plate.”

No one knows for sure what the future looks like. What most will agree on, is that the way forward must involve a seat at the table for all relevant stakeholders.

“The truth is that we all have to abandon the conceit that isolated individual actions will resolve the harmful use of alcohol,” said Dianne Ashton-Smith, head of corporate affairs at Red Stripe. “Our competitive mindset has to shift, we have to move away from the belief that it is a government issue, or any belief that it is producers, retailers or parents individually bearing the responsibility to make a change. Policies to reduce the misuse of alcohol must reach beyond the purview of any one individual entity. The only successful way forward is to support the development and implementation of practical and focused measures that take all of society into account. There is simply too much at stake to ignore this truth.”