Features of alcohol advertisements across five urban slums in Kampala, Uganda: pilot testing a container-based approach

Abstract

Background Despite the high prevalence of alcohol use and marketing in many settings across sub-Saharan Africa, few studies have systematically sought to assess alcohol marketing exposure, particularly in vulnerable areas such as urban slums where alcohol is often highly prevalent but where educational programs and alcohol prevention messages are scarce. Objective To pilot test the development and implementation of environmental scans of alcohol advertisements in five urban slums across different areas of Kampala, Uganda: Bwaise, Kamwokya, Makindye, Nakulabye, and Nateete. Methods Each of the five scans was conducted in geographical circles, within a 500-m radius of a Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL) drop-in Center using a container-based approach. Using a Garmin GPS with photo capabilities and a tablet for data entry, teams of at least two trained researchers walked the main roads within the target area and gathered information about each alcohol advertisement including its location, type, size, and placement and other characteristics. Data with the GPS coordinates, photos and descriptive details of the adverts were merged for analyses. Results A total of 235 alcohol adverts were found across all five data collection sites reflecting 32 different brands. The majority of the adverts (85.8%) were smaller and medium sizes placed by restaurants and bars, stores and kiosks, and liquor stores. The most frequently noted types of alcohol in the adverts were spirits (50.6%) and beer (30.6%). Recommendations The pilot test of the methodology we developed indicated that implementation was feasible, although challenges were noted. Since monitoring alcohol marketing is key for addressing underage alcohol use and harm, the advantages and disadvantages of the approach we developed are discussed. Future research needs to strengthen and simplify strategies for monitoring alcohol marketing in low-resource settings such as urban slums which have unique features that need to be considered. Meanwhile, the findings may yield valuable information for stakeholders and to guide intervention developments and alcohol marketing policy to protect youth.

Preventing Alcohol-Related Harm in East Africa: Stakeholder Perceptions of Readiness across Five Countries

“…Findings from this and similar studies [ 9 ] can encourage researchers in settings with more resources to lend their expertise, participate in tool development, and commit to capacity-building strategies to mitigate alcohol-related harm. There are several recent examples that can be leveraged and used in low-resource settings to strengthen capacity where it is urgently needed [ 7 , 8 ]. Moreover, there is a clear need for investments at both the national and local levels.…”

“…Our study design included a brief cross-sectional online survey administered to stakeholders engaged in alcohol prevention, outreach, and policy development in collaboration with the East Africa Alcohol Policy Alliance from October to December 2020. The project was named the “East African Alcohol Policy Alliance Capacity Assessment Survey (EAAPACAS), and followed the same procedure described elsewhere for the same survey conducted in West Africa [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. The research objective of the online survey was to assess the organizational structure, operational and strategic priorities, research capacity, target population of services provided, perceptions of best practices, and alcohol-related concerns in their local communities, and familiarity with the WHO SAFER initiative [ 20 ].…”

“…What is perhaps even more troubling, despite this recognition of the large and disproportionate alcohol burden, research related to alcohol use and harm and evaluated alcohol interventions for individuals remain scarce across sub-Saharan Africa [ 6 ]. While there may be many underlying reasons for the limited alcohol research, the key factors are likely a lack of capacity, prioritization, and interest for this type of research [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Prevalence and predictors of sex under the influence of psychoactive substances among young people in informal settlements in Kampala, Uganda

“…To be eligible to participate in the survey, the prospective respondent had to be a current psychoactive substance user aged 18–24 years and residing in one of the informal settlements of Kampala. To be considered a current user, the prospective respondent must have consumed or used alcohol, marijuana, khat, oral tobacco, and/or heroin, which are the most common psychoactive substances in the study area [ 44 – 46 ]. Although the age group of 12–17 years is the critical period for the initiation of psychoactive substance use, we recruited young people aged 18–24 years, because peak levels of drug and substance use are observed during this age group [ 4 ].…”