A readiness assessment for the prevention of alcohol-related harm in West Africa

Alcohol-related harm is a growing concern globally and particularly in West Africa. However, tools for assessing the readiness for prevention of alcohol-related harm in low-resource settings have been lacking. This research explores the effectiveness of the modified the WHO tool, the Readiness Assessment for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment Short Form (RAP-CM) across West Africa.

The researchers conducted surveys across 7 countries in West Africa (N = 140).

Results:

In terms of general readiness, the overall adjusted aggregate score for West Africa was 45.0% (ranging from 42.9% in Liberia to 52.7% in Senegal). Of the ten domains assessed (on a 0–10 scale), across all countries, knowledge of alcohol-related harm prevention (8.3) and legislation, mandates, and policies (6.7) received the highest readiness scores. The lowest readiness scores were observed for human and technical resources (2.5), attitudes toward preventing alcohol-related harm (2.7), and the will to address the problem (2.9).

Conclusions:

The researcher's results demonstrate substantial variability across domains in the readiness to address alcohol-related harm with clear strengths and limitations for future priority setting and capacity building. The barriers to progress include attitudes toward alcohol-related harm prevention, lack of willingness to address the problem, and limited human and technical resources available. These barriers need to be mitigated to address the high burden of alcohol-related harm in the region and to inform both practice and policy.