The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) in collaboration with Sierra Leone Alcohol Policy Alliance (SLAPA) and Foundation for Rural and Urban Transformation (FoRUT) launched the National Alcohol Policy for Sierra Leone on April 12th.
Presented in Freetown
The alcohol policy aims to reduce harm from alcohol use, and was presented in Freetown. The event attracted stakeholders from all walks of life including school authorities, school pupils, officials of Ministries Department and Agencies of Government and civil society Activists.
In November 2022, the Government of Sierra Leone through MoHS adopted the National Alcohol Policy marking a significant step in policy and legislative reforms in reducing harm from alcohol use.
WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified availability of alcohol, price and regulation of advertisement as their best buys for alcohol policy to reduce the harm from alcohol. These measures are reflected in the national alcohol policy of Sierra Leone. The newly launched policy makes provision for legislation to control accessibility to and availability of alcohol, it also makes provision for increased alcohol taxation, to effectively control drink driving and among others to effectively regulate alcohol advertisement, promotion and sponsorship.
FORUT Norway congratulates FoRUT and SLAPA with the achievement and involvement of civil society in this process.
