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Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework

Alcohol-related harm has gained increased attention in high-income countries (HICs) in recent years which, alongside government regulation, has effected a reduction in alcohol consumption. The alcohol industry has turned its attention to low-income and middle-income country (LMIC) markets as a new s...

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Autores principales: Walls, Helen, Cook, Sarah, Matzopoulos, Richard, London, Leslie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7199708/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32377401
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001958
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author Walls, Helen
Cook, Sarah
Matzopoulos, Richard
London, Leslie
author_facet Walls, Helen
Cook, Sarah
Matzopoulos, Richard
London, Leslie
author_sort Walls, Helen
collection PubMed
description Alcohol-related harm has gained increased attention in high-income countries (HICs) in recent years which, alongside government regulation, has effected a reduction in alcohol consumption. The alcohol industry has turned its attention to low-income and middle-income country (LMIC) markets as a new source of growth and profit, prompting increased consumption in LMICS. Alcohol use in LMICs is also increasing. There is a need to understand particularly in LMICs the impact of industry strategy in shaping local contexts of alcohol use. We draw on conceptualisations from food systems research, and research on the commercial determinants of health, to develop a new approach for framing alcohol research and discuss implications for alcohol research, particularly in LMICs, focusing on South Africa as an illustrative example. We propose a conceptualisation of the ‘alcohol environment’ as the system of alcohol provision, acquisition and consumption—including, critically, industry advertising and marketing—along with the political, economic and regulatory context of the alcohol industry that mediates people’s alcohol drinking patterns and behaviours. While each country and region is different in terms of its context of alcohol use, we contrast several broadly distinct features of alcohol environments in LMICs and HICs. Improving understanding of the full spectrum of influences on drinking behaviour, particularly in LMICs, is vital to inform the design of interventions and policies to facilitate healthier environments and reduce the harms associated with alcohol consumption. Our framework for undertaking alcohol research may be used to structure mixed methods empirical research examining the role of the alcohol environment particularly in LMICs.
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spelling pubmed-71997082020-05-06 Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework Walls, Helen Cook, Sarah Matzopoulos, Richard London, Leslie BMJ Glob Health Analysis Alcohol-related harm has gained increased attention in high-income countries (HICs) in recent years which, alongside government regulation, has effected a reduction in alcohol consumption. The alcohol industry has turned its attention to low-income and middle-income country (LMIC) markets as a new source of growth and profit, prompting increased consumption in LMICS. Alcohol use in LMICs is also increasing. There is a need to understand particularly in LMICs the impact of industry strategy in shaping local contexts of alcohol use. We draw on conceptualisations from food systems research, and research on the commercial determinants of health, to develop a new approach for framing alcohol research and discuss implications for alcohol research, particularly in LMICs, focusing on South Africa as an illustrative example. We propose a conceptualisation of the ‘alcohol environment’ as the system of alcohol provision, acquisition and consumption—including, critically, industry advertising and marketing—along with the political, economic and regulatory context of the alcohol industry that mediates people’s alcohol drinking patterns and behaviours. While each country and region is different in terms of its context of alcohol use, we contrast several broadly distinct features of alcohol environments in LMICs and HICs. Improving understanding of the full spectrum of influences on drinking behaviour, particularly in LMICs, is vital to inform the design of interventions and policies to facilitate healthier environments and reduce the harms associated with alcohol consumption. Our framework for undertaking alcohol research may be used to structure mixed methods empirical research examining the role of the alcohol environment particularly in LMICs. BMJ Publishing Group 2020-04-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7199708/ /pubmed/32377401 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001958 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
spellingShingle Analysis
Walls, Helen
Cook, Sarah
Matzopoulos, Richard
London, Leslie
Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
title Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
title_full Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
title_fullStr Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
title_full_unstemmed Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
title_short Advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
title_sort advancing alcohol research in low-income and middle-income countries: a global alcohol environment framework
topic Analysis
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7199708/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32377401
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001958
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