Alcohol Strategy Working Group in Saint Helena
The island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean is a British Overseas Territory. It is over 4000 miles from the UK, 700 miles southeast from Ascension Island and 1700 miles from South Africa. St Helena can only be reached by ship, its own dedicated ship the RMS St Helena, which sails between St Helena, Namibia, South Africa, Ascension Island and the UK. St Helena’s on-island population is around 4,000.
In December 2004 representatives from the Public Health and Social Services Department met with the Legislative Council and the managers of the government departments to voice their concerns at the health and social costs of excessive alcohol use on the island. Prior to this meeting there had been several high profile incidents of under age drinking which had caused alarm in the community. Though the health professionals shared these concerns they felt strongly that under age drinking should be seen in the context of alcohol use on the island as a whole. Following this meeting it was agreed that a Community Alcohol Summit be held so that all sectors of the community would have an opportunity to participate in tackling the problem of excessive alcohol use.
The Summit was held in March 2005 and attended by over 50 delegates from government departments, the private sector and civil society. A series of guest speakers from the departments of public health, education, social work, employment and social security as well as a youth worker, gave presentations on the effects of alcohol from their perspective. A visiting public health specialist gave an overview of alcohol use on St Helena compared to the UK and determined that on average for people over the age of sixteen 15.3 units of alcohol are consumed each week. This he said was greater than the UK average. The floor was then opened up for general discussion and for recommendations on how best to tackle problems caused by alcohol.
Out of the Summit came the Alcohol Strategy Working Group (ASWG), which is the body that was tasked with prioritising the recommendations and developing and implementing an alcohol strategy for the island.
The main priorities were identified as:
- Increase awareness of alcohol related problems
- Introduction of a proof of age card scheme for young people
- Training for licensees in alcohol awareness
- Review of the government’s Alcohol at Work Policy
- Improved screening for alcohol related problems
- Review of duties on alcohol
- Review of legislation relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol
An alcohol strategy has now been published and while there is much work to be done there have been some successes. The proof of age scheme has been implemented and, prior to having their licenses to sell alcohol renewed, all licensees had to attend a workshop in alcohol awareness and their responsibilities under the law. Awareness of alcohol related problems has increased and members of the ASWG regularly appear in the local media to discuss alcohol related issues. Medical staff are now referring people for assessment of alcohol problems and a number of people have selfreferred. The Public Health and Social Services Department has adopted the WHO AUDIT and Brief Interventions approach to working with people who have problems with alcohol.
Most importantly there is a sense that the community is more involved in tackling the issues of alcohol related problems.
The ASWG would like to make contact with other similar groups, particularly those from remote communities. The convenor, Mr Ian Rummery, can be contacted via email on: mgr.sundale@helanta.sh