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Alcohol use rose slightly across sub-Saharan Africa

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Research area:MedicineGlobal Public Health Policies and EpidemiologyEpidemiology

What the study found

Sub-Saharan Africa was not on track to meet the World Health Organization’s target of a 10% relative reduction in harmful alcohol use by 2025. Overall trends from 2010 to 2019 showed small increases in alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking, with variation across countries and some signs of improvement in Central Africa.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors conclude that harmful drinking remains widespread and unevenly distributed, and that stronger, context-specific alcohol policy and targeted interventions are needed, especially where consumption is rising or heavy episodic drinking remains high.

What the researchers tested

The researchers assessed progress in 45 sub-Saharan African countries between 2010 and 2019 using World Health Organization data on alcohol per capita consumption and heavy episodic drinking. They analysed trends for both the total population and past-year drinkers using population-weighted averages and non-parametric methods.

What worked and what didn't

Regionally, total alcohol per capita consumption increased by 6.6% and heavy episodic drinking per capita increased by 4.0%. Among drinkers, alcohol per capita consumption rose by 4.9%, while heavy episodic drinking prevalence stayed at around 51%; one-third of countries met or exceeded the 10% reduction target in alcohol per-drinker consumption, while 44% saw increases.

What to keep in mind

The abstract does not describe study limitations beyond the country scope and time period. The findings are based on WHO data for 45 sub-Saharan African countries from 2010 to 2019, so they do not cover all countries or years.

Key points

  • Sub-Saharan Africa was not on track to meet the WHO’s 2025 alcohol reduction target.
  • From 2010 to 2019, regional total alcohol per capita consumption increased by 6.6%.
  • Heavy episodic drinking per capita increased by 4.0% regionally.
  • Among past-year drinkers, alcohol per capita consumption rose by 4.9%, while heavy episodic drinking prevalence stayed near 51%.
  • Central Africa was the only subregion with meaningful declines in both alcohol per capita consumption and heavy episodic drinking per capita.

Disclosure

Research title:
Alcohol use rose slightly across sub-Saharan Africa
Authors:
Robyn Burton, Nadine Harker, Benjamin Kaneka, Frank Kyei-Arthur, Gemma Mitchell, Ogochukwu W. Odeigah, Charles Parry, Marieke Theron, Nazarius Mbona Tumwesigye
Institutions:
University of Stirling, South African Medical Research Council, University of Malawi, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Makerere University
Publication date:
2026-03-30
DOI:
10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105257
OpenAlex record:
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AI provenance: This post was generated by OpenAI. The original authors did not write or review this post.

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