Kathmandu, Dec 14: Stakeholders and experts have laid emphasis on the need of long-term strategy to reduce health and social impacts from consumption of alcohol.
At a programme ‘Situation of consumption of alcohol in Nepal: Policy-level challenges, addiction and mental health’ organised by Nepal Alcohol Policy Alliance (NAPA) with the coordination of National Health Education, Information and Communication Centre, the speakers stressed the need of long-term policy to control alcohol products.
On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population, Dr Bikas Devkota, said alcohol control is not the matter of seeking immediate results, but a long-term approach.
He mentioned that it was the shared responsibility of all—individual, family, society and state to ensure future coming generation by controlling the consumption of alcohol products.
Secretary Devkota opined that the homework was underway in a proposal of increasing tax with an objective of reducing its consumption.
Stressing the need of increasing public awareness to reduce consumption of alcohol, he clarified that commitment of all is necessary to move ahead in a phase-wise to make policy-level reform and long-term solution.
Similarly, Director of the Centre, Dr Radhika Thapaliya, pointed out the need of launching school-level public-awareness programme targeting the adolescents, adding it would be effective if we could stop the coming generation to consume alcohol.
She expressed the view that the control of alcohol consumption should be started from ourselves by changing the social perception towards alcohol products.
Senior Public Health Administrator of the Centre, Upendra Dhungana, shared that the mortality rate has been increasing as the consumption of alcohol makes immediate and long-term impacts on health.
Mentioning that a concept paper has already been prepared to prepare integrated act related to alcohol control, he added that further discussion and homework was underway on it.
Likewise, Psychiatrist Dr Jasmine Ma viewed that there is risk of increasing problems like addiction, violence, anxiety and depression while consuming alcohol in early age, stating that alcohol products make serious impacts on mental health of children and adolescents. A special programme in school-level is necessary to save them from its consumption, she argued. #nepal #alcohol rrs
