News & Events
Review SABMiller takeover bid urges Soul City
Soul City Institute for Health & Development Communication says the $106billion takeover of SABMiller will give AB Inbev access to even more cheap raw materials, labour and production processes given the discounts that will be made available to a company of this size. The same advantage will accrue to their future attempts to broker deals relating to marketing, sponsorship and manufacturing.
GAPC calls for a national and global push for stronger alcohol policies
“No responsible government can ignore the dramatic consequences that alcohol use has for the health and wellbeing of its people. It is a primary task for governments to protect the health of their citizens.” With this strong opening statement Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon set the tone for the rest of the Global Alcohol Policy Conference (GAPC) in Edinburgh last week. The First Minister in particular supported the idea of Minimum Unit Pricing on alcohol, a very hot political topic in Scotland right now.
Conference declaration from GAPC 2015 in Scotland
With music from a traditional Scottish bagpipe the participants at GAPC in Edinburgh were encouraged to bring the Conference Declaration out to their respective countries, constituencies and communities.
New booklet "Childhood matters": Alcohol and drug problems from a child rights perspective
Millions of children globally suffer as a consequence of the use of intoxicating substances like alcohol and illicit drugs. This is an important, but too often neglected, child rights issue. The new FORUT publication “Childhood matters” describes this problem and suggests action to be taken to protect children’s health and well-being.
Alcohol industry creating a new culture
The introduction of International Beer Day is a serious cause for concern. SAAPA asks how we as a society can sit back and allow this to continue.
SAAPA Response: Restaurants, bars, clubs - a social space or a disguised liquor store?
SAAPA's response to Business Day article, 'Curbing the wild use of alcohol'. The article provides the facts and looks at illegal liquor outlets.
Curbing the wild abuse of alcohol
Meshan Morar analyses the new proposed liquor policy. This article was written for and published by Business Day.
Drinking lessons to be learned for tertiary education
Tertiary students and their drinking patterns are a serious cause for concern. Soul City's Raashied Galant talks about lessons to be learnt and the dangers of binge drinking. This article was originally published in The New Age.
Beware the wile of alcohol companies
WE LIVE in a world where business opportunities often lie in increasing sales of products that cause harm. This article was written by Savera Kalideen, former SAAPA Chairperson and Senior Manager for Advocacy at Soul City. It was originally published on Business Day.
Sober up: If the state doesn’t do it, who will?
The Minister of Trade and Industry in South Africa recently announced proposed new alcohol legislation which has the industry in a furore. Amid acusations of being a South Africa being a nanny state, SAAPA Chairperson Mphonyane Mofokeng asks 'If the state doesn't do it, who will? This article was written for and published in the City Press.
Africa: a future that will not be there tomorrow
"The industry wants Africans to carry the cost of harm caused by alcohol while they take the profits". As we celebrate Africa Day, Tungamirai Zimonte highlights a new form of exploitation of Africa by the global alcohol industry.
New impetus to regulate alcohol
The Department of Trade and Industry will soon issue new alcohol regulations for public comment to kick start the process of implementing uniform regulations across the country. This emerged at a well-attended panel discussion on the National Liquor Norms and Standards hosted by Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication on Wednesday.
WHO, UNDP and FORUT: Integrating national policies on the harmful use of alcohol, gender-based violence and HIV
Integrating policies to reduce harmful drinking, gender-based violence and hiv/aids will give better results on all three areas compared to addressing them in isolation. This came out of the conference in Oslo the 5th of May. The Oslo meeting was co-hosted by WHO, UNDP, FORUT and the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services. This article was written by Dag Endal for FORUT.
UK needs to get tougher on alcohol - OECD
A review by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of the 34 wealthiest countries found average annual consumption of pure alcohol was 10.6 litres per person - equal to 115 bottles of wine. A rise from under 10 litres in the early 1990s. This article was written by by Nick Triggle, health correspondent for the BBC.
Alcohol industry timing social media promotions to tie-in with major sporting fixtures, research shows
The link between sport and alcohol is a long standing one. This article highlights the RMIT study on how social media is now a key player in selling alcohol and how the industry times its posts to tie in with major sporting fixtures. (This article was written by Micheal Edwards for ABC News Australia)
Youth Health Mag - Drinking Culture In Films Putting Teens At Risk Of Early Alcohol Exposure
Youth Health Mag reports on a study published the Pediatric journal on how youth that have been exposed to more alcohol being consumed in films than their peers are more likely to have tried alcohol.
Alcohol controls should match those on smoking
Carwyn Hooper calls for alcohol controls as stringent as smoking controls. (This article was originally written by Carwyn Hooper for www.theconversation.com and appeared on BDLive)
Alcohol Policy Alliance of Lesotho (APAL) trains 30 people in alcohol policy
The APAL in collaboration with the Blue Cross Thaba Bosiu Centre conducted a training workshop on Advocacy for Evidence Based Alcohol Policy for 30 participants in March in Maseru
Global brewers target Africa to boost profits
Is Africa the market to be captured? Economic development leads to an increase in disposable income by ordinary citizens. Recognising this the alcohol industry has declared their intention to capitalise on this and increase market share from Africa. Diageo and SABMiller seem to be leading the charge.
Momentum for change - Global Alcohol Policy Conference 2015
The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA) and Alcohol Focus Scotland are delighted to co-host the Global Alcohol Policy Conference which will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 7-9 October 2015. Themed Momentum for change: Research and Advocacy Reducing Alcohol Harm, the conference is supported by the Scottish Government and NHS Health Scotland.