PASS THE ALCOHOL CONTROL REGULATIONS NOW: NDC MUST STOP THE SILENT SLAUGHTER IN GHANIAN HOMES
Every 10 seconds, somewhere in the world, alcohol kills. Not by accident. Not by fate. But by policy failure and political delay. In Ghana today, alcohol is not just a beverage; it has become a weapon in homes, on our roads, and against our children. The continued refusal of the NDC government to pass the Draft Alcohol Control Regulations is no longer a technical lapse; it is a moral and political indictment.
Alcohol-fuelled violence is ripping Ghanaian families apart. Across communities, the pattern is painfully familiar: men return home drunk, beat their wives, brutalize their children, and in the worst cases, sexually assault minors. These are not isolated incidents. Health workers, social welfare officers, police, and faith leaders repeatedly confirm that a significant proportion of domestic violence and child abuse cases are alcohol-related. Alcohol strips away restraint, fuels aggression, and turns ordinary disputes into life-threatening violence.
Children are paying the highest price. Beyond physical abuse and rape, alcohol destroys lives before birth. Pregnant women exposed to alcohol, directly or through violent partners, risk giving birth to children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), leading to permanent brain damage, learning disabilities, behavioural disorders, and lifelong dependence. These children will require special care, strain families, and burden the state for decades. This is intergenerational damage, enabled by inaction.
The health consequences are equally catastrophic. Excessive alcohol use is strongly linked to liver cirrhosis, cancers, heart disease, strokes, mental illness, and road traffic crashes. Hospitals spend scarce resources treating injuries and diseases that are entirely preventable. Road accidents involving drunk drivers continue to wipe out breadwinners, leaving widows and orphans behind. The economic cost, lost productivity, healthcare expenditure, policing, and social services run into millions of cedis every year.
Ghana already knows what to do. The National Alcohol Policy (2016) exists. What is missing is political courage. The Draft Alcohol Control Regulations, strongly advocated by the Alcohol Policy Alliance Ghana (GhanAPA) and other public health institutions, would regulate availability, restrict aggressive marketing, protect children, strengthen drink-driving enforcement, and mandate health warnings. These are evidence-based measures, not experiments.
Every day this bill is delayed, more women are beaten, more children are violated, more lives are destroyed. Silence is complicity. Delay is endorsement of harm.
The NDC government must act now.
Pass the Alcohol Control Regulations.
Protect Ghanaian families.
Stop the blood, the tears, and the broken futures.
By: Blessing Mantey
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