Changes in hazardous drinking pre, during and post 70-day alcohol sales ban during COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana

BACKGROUND: Absolute alcohol sales bans instituted in countries like Botswana provide a rare opportunity for a quasi-natural experiment on how such strict policies influence users’ behaviours during the COVID pandemic and beyond. From March 2020 to September 2021, Botswana banned the sales of alcohol on four separate occasions spanning a cumulative 225 days. We studied changes in retrospectively recalled hazardous drinking following the longest and last alcohol sales ban in Botswana. METHODS: This online cross-sectional study, carried out following a 70-day alcohol sales ban in 2021, comprised a convenience sample of 1326 adults who completed the AUDIT-C and had to recall their alcohol use during three points: pre alcohol sale ban (before 28th June 2021), during alcohol sales ban (28th June 2021 to 5th September 2021), and post alcohol sales ban (after 5th September 2021). RESULTS: The prevalence of hazardous drinking (defined by an AUDIT-C score of 3 or 4 for females and males, respectively) prior, during and post the alcohol sales ban was 52.6% (95%CI=49.8–55.3), 33.9% (95%CI=31.3–36.5), and 43.1% (95%CI=40.4–45.8), respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study showed that reduced alcohol availability by way of the fourth alcohol sales ban was associated with reductions in self-reported hazardous drinking, albeit at a lesser degree compared to during an earlier sales ban.