VALD Ghana, Other CSOs In Health Endorse FDA’s 'No Celebrities In Alcoholic Beverage Ads’ Directive

VISION FOR for Alternative Development, Ghana (VALD Ghana) and other civil society organizations in solidarity for the protection of public health have declared unflinching  support for Food and Drugs Authority to take decision  on banning alcohol advertisements by celebrities.

Civil Society Actors in Ghana are displeased with the section of the media and some celebrities who are up in arms fighting the Food and Drugs Authority and the government for formulating alcohol guidelines aimed at protecting and safeguarding the health, well-being and rights of children and young people from harm caused by alcohol consumption. 

Alcohol marketing is largely targeted at children and young people; this is a violation of their rights, as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Children have the right to grow up in a healthy environment, to be protected from being hurt, from receiving harmful information and from any exploitation. 

Concurrently, Article 28 of Ghana’s constitution reiterates that children and young people must, in all circumstances, receive special protection against exposure to physical and moral hazards.

 This article agrees that every Ghanaian child has the right to life and education; it is worth noting that these global and national provisions are all dependent on whether or not the child in question is healthy; thus, the child’s right to health must at all times superseded all other interests. 

As civil society actors with the mandate to champion public health against business interests, we strongly support the Food and Drugs Authority's stance regarding hindering well-known individuals and celebrities from advertising alcoholic beverages. Our core responsibility is to advocate for comprehensive public health policies that safeguard the rights, health and well-being of children and young people.

It is appalling that some celebrities wish to engage in alcohol advertisements for monetary benefits or personal gains without recognizing its adverse effect on children and young people as well as the poor. 

They leverage their significant influence and huge social media following to entice young people who look up to them into alcohol consumption at the expense of their health and future.  

The media personality who summons the FDA to court argues that the FDA’s guidelines violate constitutional provisions, particularly articles 17(1) and 17(2), which guarantee equality before the law and prohibit discrimination based on social or economic status and occupation. He contends that the ban unfairly hinders celebrities and professionals from endorsing alcoholic products, impacting their ability to engage in legitimate business activities. 

These allegations are meted without recognizing that the same constitution has many provisions that uphold the child's interest, including children's rights to health and well-being. Every country, including Ghana, has the utmost responsibility to protect its present and future generations from health-harming products such as alcohol and tobacco.

The global and national laws on the rights of children also reveal the quality-of-life children must enjoy, which includes freedom from abuse. It is important to know that abuse is not limited to the physical, in children spans further to psychological, emotional, sexual and many others. 

Thus, the exposure of children to wrongful information such as alcohol advertisement especially by credible personalities via the various forms of media is equally an abuse. This is in unison with the sections 17 and 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; a treaty that Ghana is a party to. 

Alcohol consumption among children and young people leads to a substantial burden of disease, disabilities and death, much of which can be prevented.

 The science is very clear that alcohol use in young people, especially early-onset among minors, increases the risk of,disrupting brain development, developing alcohol use problems later in life, unwanted pregnancies, contracting transmissible diseases, being injured, or even killed through violence and road traffic crashes.

Since the human brain develops until the age of 25, alcohol consumption poses a developmental risk to children and youth, affecting the development of cognitive and intellectual capacities.

“The alcohol industry needs underage alcohol use for a significant part of their profits. They also need to market their brands to children to maintain and increase alcohol use of young ‘loyal’ consumers, as they enter adult life,” wrote Maik Dünnbier, Director of Strategy and Advocacy at Movendi International

Seeing people [use] alcohol on our television screens glamorizes [alcohol use] and helps create a culture where alcohol is seen as an essential part of everyday life,” said Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chairman of Alcohol Health Alliance. 

Over the years, many celebrities have tried to disassociate themselves from alcohol in public, notably Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba. Ronaldo's decision was influenced by a family tragedy - the loss of his father, who suffered from alcohol consumption challenges. Similarly, Paul Pogba, during a Euro 2020 news conference, moved aside a bottle of beer, demonstrating importance of water to alcohol. For us as civil society actors, these acts are praiseworthy and worth emulating. 

Gladly, some section of the celebrities in Ghana supports the ban because they firmly believe that the FDA’s directive will protect our children from becoming victims of alcohol thereby increasing their pre-disposition for diseases in their adulthood. 

We believe that there are many untapped business opportunities that would not only bring a lot of revenue to celebrities without interfering with public health efforts while reducing pressure with increased chronic NCDs such as heart diseases, stroke, hypertension, kidney, lung diseases, and the many cancers we are experiencing today.

We have seen many children and young people practically copying and emulating the style/behaviours of many celebrities– Sarkodie, Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, Kwame Eugene, Wendy Shay etc. due to their influence and the huge following who are mostly young people. 

The effect is empirically the same if celebrities advertise any product including alcohol, tobacco, energy drinks among others. 

According to the WHO, alcohol use kills 3 million deaths yearly and is the seventh most crucial risk factor for mortality as well as the number one risk factor for people aged 15–49 years.

The WHO earlier this year declared that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption suggesting that even moderate drinking can have an effect on the consumer leading to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems; Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum; Weakening of the immune system, increasing the chances of getting sick; Learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor school performance. 

We, the entire civil society fraternity in public health stand with the Food and Drugs Authority and the government of Ghana in their decision to continue to implement the ban on celebrities from alcohol advertisement. 

It is a step in the right direction to avoid the incubation of a new generation of alcohol addicts and the associated diseases and the socioeconomic burden.