‘There are alternatives to liquor ban’
The public was supposed to be informed about the strain that alcohol-related trauma admissions were putting on the health system before the sale of alcohol was banned for a second time – and there are alternatives to a direct ban.
This is according to the SA Medical Research Council (MRC), which has released the report that it says could be one of the reasons government put the brakes on the sale of liquor a week ago.
The MRC, which predicts the ban could last for eight weeks, presented its report to the government in early July.
“It should be noted that there are multiple pressures on the government to relax current restrictions on alcohol and … it is clear that these should not be entertained. It is imperative to maintain absolute transparency and inform the public of [the] rationale behind its decision to reimpose a ban or tighter restrictions,” the report says.
The report makes it clear that the MRC is in favour of “early implementation of a ban or restriction” of the sale of booze.
It says during Levels 4 and 5 of the lockdown, which included a ban on the sale of liquor from both on-site and off-site consumption outlets, there was a 60% to 70% reduction in hospital visits and admissions related to trauma.
Since 1 June, when restrictions for many industries were eased, the council says there has been an “a noticeable surge in trauma-related hospital visits”.
It estimates that the ban could achieve a reduction of approximately 3 400 alcohol-related trauma presentations across public secondary and tertiary hospitals by the end of the first week and about 6 800 by the third week.
The council says that as an alternative to a complete ban on alcohol sales, the government could have implemented more stringent “restrictive alcohol control interventions to reduce the availability of alcohol”. These include:
► Limit off-consumption times for licensed outlets to Tuesday to Thursday from 9am to 5pm;
► Limit purchase amounts and stop sales to unlicensed outlets;
► Industry to reduce manufacturing to 70% of capacity or perhaps close some breweries;
► No off-sales by on-consumption outlets; and
► Ban sale of large containers; limit beer and cider to 500ml, and wine and spirits to 750ml.