New Delhi: The liquor ban in Bihar in 2016 prevented 24 lakh cases of daily and weekly consumption and 21 lakh cases of illicit consumption of alcohol. intimate partner violenceAccording to new research published in the Lancet Regional Health South East Asia Magazine. It is also estimated that 18 lakh men in the state are deprived of sex due to this ban. Overweight or obesitySaid this.
A team of researchers, including International Food Policy Research Institute, Poverty, Health and Nutrition DivisionUS, analysed data from national and district-level health and household surveys.
,Strict alcohol regulation policies Significant population levels may be achieved Healthcare facilities “This is a major challenge for frequent drinkers and victims of intimate partner violence,” the authors wrote.
In April 2016, the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act imposed a near-total ban on the manufacture, transportation, sale and consumption of alcohol across the state.
The overnight introduction of the policy and its strict enforcement made the ban “an attractive natural experiment for estimating the true causal effects of a strict alcohol restriction policy on health and alcohol”. Consequences of domestic violence”According to the authors. Data from National Family Health Survey-3-4, and -5 were included in the analysis.
“Before the ban, the rate of alcohol consumption by men in Bihar had risen from 9.7 per cent to 15 per cent, while in neighbouring states it rose from 7.2 per cent to 10.3 per cent.
“After the ban, these trends reversed, with at least weekly alcohol use declining to 7.8 percent in Bihar, while it increased to 10.4 percent in neighboring states,” the authors write.
They also found evidence of a reduction in physical violence against women in Bihar, “with emotional violence decreasing by 4.6 percentage points and sexual violence decreasing by 3.6 percentage points”.
On the aspect of the impact of the ban men’s HealthThe authors’ modeling estimated that cases among underweight men increased by four percentage points, and cases among overweight or obese men decreased by 5.6 percentage points, compared with trends in neighboring states.
“We estimate that the ban could have prevented 2.4 million cases of repeated sexual violence.” alcohol consumption”This includes 1.8 million cases of overweight/obesity among men, and 2.1 million cases of intimate partner violence, compared to neighboring states with no such restrictions,” the authors write.
These findings will be valuable for policymakers in other countries considering imposing similar bans. Indian StatesResearchers said.
“Although we do not recommend a blanket ban as a practical or economically feasible policy, our study adds new evidence that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for humans, and suggests that stricter alcohol regulation policies may have important health benefits for frequent drinkers, and for victims of intimate partner violence,” the authors write.
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