Sierra Leone Alcohol Policy Alliance (SLAPA) a membership-based alliance hosted and supported by Foundation for Rural Transformation (FoRuT) held a stakeholder holder engagement on Building the Momentum for the Development of an Alcohol Control Bill. The engagement attracted - Sierra Leone Police, Siera Leone Road Safety Authority, National Drug & Law Enforcement Agency, World Health Organisation, Ministry of Health, Office of the President Mental Health Secretariat, Network AID Africa and CSO's championing communicable and non-communicable diesease.
SLAPA current chairperson Mr. Hajie Bah reminded members of the Alliance and stakeholders present of the opportunity and the challenges, and encourage for nationwide consultation to have a bill that will translate to an act that would stand the test of time.
The Executive Director of FoRuT presented the SAFER Initiative module that looks at key components as guide for a better bill development.
World Health Organisation, Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority, Office the President Mental Health Secretariat committed support in getting the bill done. Network AID Africa submit that strong research needs to be done to gather evidence to support the development of the bill. NDLEA cautioned, for a bill that will not get the market goes underground while Budget Advocacy Network calls for a commissioning of alcohol tax assessment on the cost-benefit, production, regulations development and gap analysis.
The bill will aim to at regulating the use, availability, sales, fines and penalty, precursory, screening, importing limit and per cent, evidence based treatment, tools and equipment, capacity enhancement, taxation.
At the end of engagement, unanimously! all stakeholders agree for a bill to control alcohol with engaging the alcohol manufacturing industries with no compromising the public health with resource mobilisation.
The next step was collated by FoRuT to share with all stakeholders.
