The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) have initiated a major five-year, multidisciplinary research project to combat South Africa’s high rates of harmful alcohol use and its devastating contribution to the national disease burden.
Titled Collaboration for Harm Reduction and Alcohol Safety in the Environment in Southern Africa (CHASE-SA), the initiative will investigate the complex political, economic, and social factors driving harmful drinking in both South Africa and Botswana. The ultimate goal is to generate evidence to support the creation of effective policies and community interventions.
The Urgency: South Africa’s Alcohol Crisis
South Africa is ranked globally as having one of the highest rates of heavy episodic drinking. Alcohol is a significant contributor to public health crises:
- Disease Burden: Alcohol is responsible for approximately 7% of the national disease burden.
- Intersections: Harmful use is closely linked to critical issues like gender-based violence, trauma-related injuries, HIV, and tuberculosis.
- FASD Crisis: The Western Cape has one of the world’s highest reported rates of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
CHASE-SA: Mapping the Entire Alcohol Environment
According to project lead Richard Matzopoulos, this is the first study of its scale in Southern Africa to comprehensively map the entire alcohol ecosystem—from global industry supply to local drinking norms—and connect these factors to health outcomes.
The project is structured into four interconnected work streams:
- Political Economy: Analyzing alcohol policies, regulation, and the influence of the alcohol industry.
- Acquisition and Consumption Environments: Mapping where and how alcohol is accessed and consumed across six sites in South Africa and three in Botswana.
- Impacts: Linking drinking patterns to health, social, and economic outcomes through data modeling and surveys.
- Evidence to Action: Working directly with policymakers and communities to co-create implementable changes.
Policy Implications and The COVID-19 Precedent
The study is timely, as global alcohol companies increasingly target low- and middle-income countries. The recent COVID-19 alcohol sales bans in South Africa demonstrated that trauma-related hospital admissions could drop rapidly when availability is restricted. This provided a “rare impetus for considering better alcohol policy,” according to Matzopoulos.
The core mission is not just to produce data, but to ensure that evidence co-created with communities and decision-makers leads to tangible policy changes that reduce harm and strengthen public health.
