A recently released five-page “report”, funded by and on behalf of the alcohol industry, purports to reveal new data that counters current analyses that the bans on the sale of alcohol have led to a decrease in trauma cases in South African hospitals.
Many news outlets have parroted the media releases from the South African Liquor Brands Association, without any critical questioning of the origins of the report and the glaring conflicts of interest, or interrogating the methods, despite findings that contradict a wide range of published research by public health experts.
There are a few things amiss about this report:
Amended lockdown regulations over the Easter weekend saw the number of people who could attend religious and other gatherings more than double to 250 people indoors and 500 outdoors, and, while shebeens and restaurants remained open, the offsite sale of liquor was prohibited for four days.
The apparent lack of a scientific basis for these decisions prompted the South African Liquor Brand Owners Association to release an investigative report it commissioned several months ago.
The investigation set out to interrogate the widely held view that there is a clear causal link between the three alcohol bans (excluding the recent Easter ban) and the visible and, at times, startling decline in hospital trauma admissions that occurred at the same time.
Mkhize: Not yet time to lift ban on alcohol sales Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that the ban had assisted in opening up facilities to caring for COVID-19 patients and it was not yet time to resume the alcohol trade. FILE: Health Minister Zweli Mkhize addresses a media briefing on 13 July 2020. Picture: @DrZweliMkhize/Twitter.
DURBAN - Health Minister Zweli Mkhize is calling for a continued ban on the sale of alcohol.
However, this comes as various stakeholders in the liquor industry called for the resumption of alcohol sales, saying that this would assist in keeping their businesses afloat after only trading for three months last year.