Alcohol consumption in the Arab region: What do we know, why does it matter, and what are the policy implications for youth harm reduction?

Self-reported substance use in Iraq: findings from the Iraqi National Household Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use, 2014

“…This gender discrepancy was also observed when examining the prevalence of knowing someone who uses a substance. This is consistent with the world‐wide trend of higher rates of substance use among males, which may be related to stigmatization of substance use in women .…”

What should national alcohol control policies in Muslim majority countries focus on?

“…The alcohol industry, through heavily financed, extremely sophisticated marketing techniques, exerts an extremely potent influence internationally. It can change people's attitude towards alcohol, reasons for drinking, choice of beverage and pattern of drinking, including when and where to drink [2]. Alcohol advertisements normalize drinking and encourage consumption in populationsmainly in developing countries-where the prevalence of drinking is historically low.…”

“…Before delving into the components of a successful national control program in MMCs, I would like to briefly discuss the dearth in research publications on alcohol use and harm from MMCs. A recent systematic review highlighted the lack of national harm reduction policies against alcohol consumption in the Arab world (all are MMCs) and the low number of studies on alcohol consumption and harm in these countries [2]. According to this review, having an alcohol ban was not the main factor influencing the availability of alcohol-related research in the Arab world.…”

“…For example, several studies on alcohol use and harm have been published in Saudi Arabia, a country with total ban on alcohol. Conversely, in Indonesia, where alcohol is not banned, few alcohol-related research papers have been published [2]. I would argue that regardless of the dearth in research on alcohol in MMCs, several issues need to be considered to put into place effective alcohol control policies in MMCs.…”

Civil alcohol policy in Muslim majority countries: need for global tools, expert support and local partnerships

“…Our paper acknowledged the use of soft resources (noted by Kalema et al . ) and described the dearth of published scientific literature on alcohol policy in MMCs . This lack of quality data would stand in the way of Kalema and colleagues’ suggestion of comparing per capita alcohol consumption of MMCs according to policy types.…”