According to Dr. Aboagye, the benefits to be derived from the restriction of the adverts outweigh the profits which would be earned by the media outlets if they ignore the directive.

[contextly_sidebar id=”KQkrj4SVcYow6lO6AK4F2NQaGTl3Eu6T”]He questioned media houses which have failed to comply with the regulations in the light of existing laws, and the lack of proper enforcement on the part of FDA till now.

“The advertising of alcohol is failing to protect children, and those exposed to alcohol marketing start drinking younger and drink more. And this shows just how many of our children are being exposed to alcohol marketing, with an even bigger impact on those children with an interest in radio morning shows and sports,” Dr. Aboagye told Citi News.

“Children get bombarded with pro-drinking messages when they turn on the TV and radio channels, thus the existing media practices on alcohol advertisement fail to protect them.

“The public share my concerns, which is why we need urgent action from the enforcement team of FDA to make sure media outlets and alcohol companies strictly comply with the restrictive advertisement on alcohol, and media houses who flout the law are dealt with according to the law.   Dr Aboagye stated.

’15 years in jail’

The Food and Drugs Authority [FDA], effective 1st January 2018, banned advertisements in the form of  jingles and Live Presenter Mentions (LPMs) of alcoholic beverages in the media before 8:00pm.

The FDA’s current guidelines for the Advertisements on Foods (Section 3.2.6) and specifically the requirements for advertisements of alcoholic beverages, states that: “Radio and Television advertisements shall not be aired between the hours of 06:00 am and 20:00.”

However, lax enforcement of this regulation has seen alcoholic beverages advertised at all times of the day.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the FDA, James Lartey, persons who are found to be flouting the directive could face prison terms of up to 15 years as well as a fine of about 7, 500 cedis.

He stated that the move had become necessary because of the rise in the number alcohol ads during the day, enticing minors to try these beverages, and ultimately affecting their health.

“Currently, we have looked at the level of alcohol consumption in the media, it is very bad. And I think the earlier we bring some stringent measures the better. So we feel that this is an attempt to actually enforce that aspect of the regulation,” he said.

Dr. Aboagye described the move by the FDA as “gallant and brave”, and advised the Authority not to be pressured to abandon the restrictive ban on alcohol marketing before 8:00pm.

He advised the government to go a step further to take note of the World Health Organisation’s recommendations to countries on increasing the legal age of drinking and purchasing of alcoholic beverages.

Dr. Aboagye pointed out that countries such as France, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Kenya, have banned alcohol advertising on television and billboards, and urged the FDA to include billboards whilst supporting a call for government to increase the drinking age to 21.

According to him, if before the ages of 25 years, the human brain is still undergoing development, then there is the need to strictly regulate the alcohol industries to protect the young people.

“The young people less than 25 years old are more prone to risk-taking behaviours like the use of psychoactive substances leading to addiction and the reason why young people 25 years and below are predominantly vulnerable to alcohol and drug abuse,” he stated.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The FDA’s current guidelines for the Advertisements on Foods (Section 3.2.6) and specifically the requirements for advertisements of alcoholic beverages, states that: “Radio and Television advertisements shall not be aired between the hours of 0600 am and 2000.”

However, lax enforcement of this regulation has seen alcoholic beverages advertised at all times of the day.

According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the FDA, James Lartey, persons who are found to be flouting the directive could face prison terms of up to 15 years as well as a fine of about 7, 500 cedis.

He stated that the move had become necessary because of the rise in the number alcohol ads during the day enticing minors to try these beverages, and ultimately affecting their health.

“Currently we have looked at the level of alcohol consumption in the media, it is very bad. And I think the earlier, we bring some stringent measures the better. So we feel that this is an attempt to actually enforce that aspect of the regulation,” he said.

He said, for now, the FDA is targeting the traditional media outlets although they are aware other channels could be used to promote these beverages.

James Lartey, however, suggested that in time the Association will look at enforcing the law on these other channels, including the various social media platforms.

“For now we are looking at TV and radio, that is what our regulations say, TV and radio, but like I mentioned earlier, regulation is dynamic, as we go along if we realized the need to include another medium, why not we will,” he said.

He also stated that the police will be assisting FDA in apprehending the culprits.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post FDA to crack down on alcohol advertisements before 8pm appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“It is better to build the youth than to mend the men of old,” Mr Ernest Norgbey, Member of Parliament (MP) of Ashaiman said in a statement on the floor.

He said the initiation of the youth into alcohol through parental influence and the larger society could be controlled by the schools, religious organisations and the society as a whole.

“As legislators, it is imperative that we do something about the most common and biggest medium; Advertisements. Hundreds of advertisements on alcoholic beverages are aired on radio and television daily. And as if that is not enough, they are displayed on huge billboards as well as small ones. The alcohol industry is conscious of the power of advertisements so they waste no time in investing heavily in…. illicit alcohol,” he said.

He pointed out that alcohol advertisement was one cause of youth drinking, and that consumers took alcoholic beverages for reasons such as; socialisation, relaxation and peer pressure and it could be concluded that advertisement had the power to influence consumption patterns.

Mr Norgbey pointed out the use of celebrities who appealed to the youth in commercials to lure them into drinking, adding that children also watched and listened to the commercials, and that predisposed the nation to a catastrophe in the future.

Mr Norgbey urged fellow legislators to help apply the laws of the nation to discourage the use and abuse of alcohol among the youth, citing that in the United States of America, the legal drinking age is 21 years, adding “hence we can do something about the legal drinking age.”

He called on the National Media Commission and the Foods and Drugs Authority to impose sanctions and deal adequately with culprits who disregarded the law.

Summing up contributions on the issue, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye , the Speaker of Parliament, condemned the situation where some politicians allowed minors who had not attained the legal voting age and inferred that, thinking that they were of age may start taking alcohol to show that they were adults.

“If they start from the voters’ register, the end is alcohol consumption,” the Speaker cautioned, adding that “ let’s consider it at the Committee levels and bring it back for more discussion.”

In a contribution to the statement, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, MP for Ledzokuku, who is also a physician, noted that 80 per cent of liver diseases in Ghana were related to alcohol, and stressed that the nation had to be aggressive in getting the youth away from alcohol.

He said there was the need to draw a balance between the business and health aspects of the alcohol industry, stating that at most, one could take not in excess of 20 units of alcohol in a week.

Deputy Majority Leader Adwoa Safo and her counterpart James Avedzi who spoke on the use of alcohol, warned against its contribution to the loss of limbs, sexual escapades leading to unprepared parenthood and other social challenges.

Ms Safo called for a law, as Washington DC did for the youth to exhibit a form of documentation that showed they were matured before alcohol was sold to them.

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Source: GNA

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