Health network calls for review of alcohol standards
Health Network, a civil society organization in Sierra Leone that is promoting health issues, human rights and justice has expressed serious concerns over the high level of consuming alcohol by young people in the country.
During a press conference held at Garisson Street on May 20th this year in Freetown, the Executive Director of the group Mr. Robert Kondema Kargbo stated that his organization is embarking on a major role sensitizing young people on the issues of alcohol and drugs.
He said that the issue of the effect of high intake of alcohol and other related preventive drugs by both the children and the youth between the ages of 10-35 is slowly killing the faith of the development of the country.
He revealed that several research and surveys that has been made by his group states that young people especially the unskilled and unemployed are led into the drinking of excessive alcohol lack of the knowledge on the effect of high content alcohol in their human system.
He disclosed that the high content of alcohol which our young people consume in recent times is a course for alarm and that his group is personate about young people’s health and progress.
Furthermore, Kargbo reveal that his team recently conducted an inspection tour on various factories producing alcohol in the western area and gained firsthand information of their products and their contents. According to the Director, the following observations below were noted:
- Some factories have good labs, while others are difficult to verify their contents, while some are very poor.
- Most factories has Sierra Leonean staff in both senior and support levels, while some still need to step up their recruiting level of Sierra Leoneans.
- The contents of alcoholic in their products needs to be assessed and maintain standards that will not affect the health of our population and this is where the standard Bureau will actively be needed to provide technical support. He call for the cooperation of standard Bureau and other relevant institutions on health issues to curb down alcohol, drugs and its consumption. He also called on policy makers to institute an alcohol policy which Ghana and Nigeria have already done.
Representing the Sierra Leone Police, Inspector Tamba J. Kondokwi of the Kissy Police station noted that the Sierra Leone Police do not accept reckless consumption of alcohol and lawlessness, adding that most adult commit crimes when they are under the influence of alcohol. He disclosed that most young people misbehaved when they are drunk. He informed the gathering that alcohol should not be sold to underage children and very soon they will begin to arrest retailers who sell alcohol to underage children.
By Mohamed Bangura
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