ArticleBMC public health2023
Alcohol policy framing in South Africa during the early stages of COVID-19: using extraordinary times to make an argument for a new normal.
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Moderated Mediation Model of HIV-Related Anticipated Stigma and Social Capital on the Relationship Between Diagnosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Potentially Problematic Substance Use Among Young South Africans.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Inertia or unanticipated bottlenecks? Exploring stakeholder perspectives on the implementation determinants of the national alcohol policy five years post-enactment in Zambia.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Prioritization of methods for assessing alcohol use in emergency room settings: findings from a qualitative study.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- The Relationship Between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Alcohol Use in First Responders: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Direct, Mediating and Moderating Role of Generalized Resistance Resources.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- The influence of crisis on policy formulation: the case of alcohol regulation in South Africa during COVID-19 (2020-21).Health policy and planning · 2024Article
- Corporate social responsibility, policy framing and strategic marketing: understanding the alcohol industry's use of social media in Uganda.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPublic health and alcohol industry actors compete to frame alcohol policy problems and solutions. Little is known about how sudden shifts in the political context provide moments for policy actors to re-frame alcohol-related issues. South Africa's temporary bans on alcohol sales during the COVID-19 pandemic offered an opportunity to study this phenomenon.
methodsWe identified Professor Charles Parry from the South African Medical Research Council as a key policy actor. Parry uses a Twitter account primarily to comment on alcohol-related issues in South Africa. We harvested his tweets posted from March 18 to August 31, 2020, coinciding with the first two alcohol sales bans. We conducted a thematic analysis of the tweets to understand how Parry framed alcohol policy evidence and issues during these 'extraordinary times.'
resultsParry underlined the extent of alcohol-related harm during 'normal times' with scientific evidence and contested industry actors' efforts to re-frame relevant evidence in a coherent and well-constructed argument. Parry used the temporary sales restrictions to highlight the magnitude of the health and social harms resulting from alcohol consumption, particularly trauma, rather than the COVID-19 transmission risks. Parry portrayed the sales ban as a policy learning opportunity (or 'experiment') for South Africa and beyond.
conclusionsCrisis conditions can provide new openings for public health (and industry) actors to make salient particular features of alcohol and alcohol policy evidence.
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