A lifestyle to abuse

Recent events have thrown the problem of alcohol abuse by young people into sharp focus. The media is being bombarded by what should have been or what needs to be done in the light of recent events regarding excessive alcohol consumption, open bar parties, law enforcement, etc.

Sedqa, the national agency against drug and alcohol abuse, has, for the past years, been implementing prevention programmes in schools, at the workplace and the community at large; embarking on marketing campaigns; conducting research; and also exerting pressure for the introduction of legislation upping the legal minimum age for purchasing alcohol from the present 16 years to 18 years. In the meantime, it kept advising that the current legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to young people under the age of 16 be changed to incorporate also the ban on the consumption of alcohol by the same population.

All this is not the reaction to recent events, but part of the agency's mission statement. One of the latest campaigns specifically on binge drinking started last July and has been going on since. This campaign, entitled Don't Risk It, included ongoing radio public service announcements, posters with preventive messages in popular party venues and bars in entertainment areas, cinema advertising, new printed material about alcohol, emphasis on dissemination of information, seminars and training opportunities to parents and educators, a new website for Sedqa, with a sub-page focusing solely on binge drinking, ongoing features in newspapers, continuous informative slots on all media aimed both at parents and young people, and, ultimately, a national conference that will take place on January 27 entitled Binge Drinking: A Modern Lifestyle?

This conference will bring together all players under one roof to discuss the different aspects related to the subject, from education to cultural pressures and law enforcement.

Such multi-pronged initiatives by Sedqa are based on current trends and behaviours observed among Maltese young people, mainly extracted from the latest European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD), conducted in 2003. From such a study, we know about the liberal views when it comes to alcohol consumption habits, especially among young people. Results show that among the 35 participating countries, Malta ranked fifth in the proportion of 16-year-old students who reported bingeing three times or more in the 30 days prior to their being questioned.

Binge drinking, which in the study was described as having five drinks or more in one session, has become a major problem among young people in Malta and it needs to be continuously addressed, especially when one considers that only 6.4 per cent of the 16-year-old Maltese respondents in the ESPAD survey had not had alcohol at least once in their lives, while 51.1 per cent reported drinking alcohol on 20 or more occasions in their lives.

The aim of Sedqa's initiatives and efforts to curb excessive alcohol consumption is mainly to assist all sections of the community, in particular young people, to develop understanding, attitudes and, ultimately, behaviour, thus enabling them to minimise, and if possible avoid, alcohol-related harm. The main challenge however remains to make teenagers aware of the potential negative consequences and what they stand to lose by drinking prior to them embarking on excessive alcohol drinking.

Sedqa maintins that what could possibly work to influence this behavioural pattern is a concerted positive effort by parents, educators, treatment and prevention agencies and health authorities, coupled and backed up with an effective and adequate enforcement and legislative structure. Ultimately, Sedqa emphasises the need to be more vigilant against those who sell alcohol to minors. Selling alcohol to minors should not be tolerated. It is also of utmost importance that young people receive good examples about healthy lifestyles within the family, and that parents assume their full responsibilities in this regard.

The national conference on binge drinking will be held at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Hotel, in St Julians, and Sedqa would like to invite all those who are truly concerned about this important issue - parents, educators, health authorities, treatment and prevention agencies, NGOs and legislators - to join it in a concerted effort to combat underage drinking.

(For further information about the conference contact Albert Buttigieg on 2124 4226 or visit www.sedqa.gov.mt.)

Mr Cardona is Sedqa's operations director.