DILI, 14 October 2019 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste’s health ministry (MS) has launched the country’s first public health campaign targeting “risky” alcohol consumption.
The MS said the campaign – headlined ‘Alkol no Tua Estrega: Saude, Ekonomia, Sociedade, Familia’ (Alcohol Destroys: Health, Budgets, Society and Family) – is a first in the country since independence, 20 years ago.
“This is the first step. We’ve launched [the campaign] in Dili before we extend it to other districts,” said the chief of MS, Frederico Bosco.
He said the billboard and advertising campaign is part of the MS’s multi-sector efforts to control chronic alcoholism. It’s backed by the World Health Organisation’s “Walk the Talk” health initiative.
“We have established a non-communicable diseases technical team [which is] implementing this activity in Ermera district, and for this month we will spread to all the districts. And it’s via this team that we’ll run other activities, such as tobacco control [messages], alcohol control, and control of other factors, with the help of local leaders,” he said.
“It’s especially designed to prevent the use of alcohol,” Frederico Bosco said.
According to national data, as of 2015 the percentage of Timorese who drink at least once a month is 17.4 per cent — 42 per cent for men and just 2 per cent for women.
World Health Organisation figures show alcohol is a factor in 18 per cent of deaths each year in Timor-Leste.
“We do not have the legislation to control the use of alcohol, yet we have legislation for tobacco. But very recently, we have asked parliament to give some thought to [alcohol] legislation.”
He said the member of parliament’s Commission F are taking part in a study tour of Thailand this week, be joined by MS officials, the Commerce Department and AIFAESA, the food and liquor regulator. The aim, he said, is to learn from that country’s alcohol regulations and controls, to inform future legislation here.
The MS has also accepted help from international health experts who will advise the relevant ministers on future regulations.
“We have yet to conduct an economic study into [the impact of] alcohol, but the reality shows at a global level, 54 per cent of people who consume alcohol fall [into] poverty… and they are more likely to, because alcohol is an addictive substance, which also causes economic impacts, social problems, domestic violence and other conflicts,” he said.
First published in Tetum as: Timor-Leste Realiza Primeiru Kampaña Sensibilizasaun Alkoolizmu
Journalist: Felicidade Ximenes
Editor: Rafy Belo; Robert Baird
Translation: Nelia Borges
