Department of Politics and International Relations, Derwent College, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
Department of Health Sciences, Seebohm Rowntree Building, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2024 Jun 20;19(1):31. doi: 10.1186/s13011-024-00611-z.
Sub-Saharan Africa is important to the future of alcohol and global health because the alcohol market there is expanding rapidly in a relatively young population. This entails a corresponding contest about whether the policy measures adopted will be shaped by scientific evidence or by industry interference in alcohol policy. This study examines how alcohol industry actors use social media.
Uganda was selected for study because of high levels of alcohol harm and recent alcohol policy debates. Data on the X (formerly Twitter) activity of the Ugandan companies of AB InBev and Diageo, who are the two main brewers, and the trade association including both, were collected, coded and thematically analysed.
X is used overwhelmingly by alcohol industry actors in Uganda to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) and alcohol policy framing content. There is little direct product marketing. The framing of policy problems and solutions, and of the actors involved in policymaking and CSR resembles that used elsewhere in the political strategies of the transnational alcohol corporations. Content which appears more emphasised in Uganda includes material on farmers, illicit trade and contribution to the economy. As elsewhere, it avoids giving attention to the policy measures which would make a difference to the levels of alcohol harms endured by Uganda. Rhetorically, X is thus used to create a parallel universe, in which the actual harms and what is known about how to reduce them are conspicuous by their absence.
The alcohol industry presents itself as indispensable to Uganda's future and appears to have developed relationships with politicians, partnerships with government, and built a coalition with farmers. This means the alcohol industry may be well positioned to oppose public health policy measures, even though their arguments lack substance and are at odds with the evidence.
撒哈拉以南非洲地区对于未来的酒精和全球健康至关重要，因为该地区的酒精市场在相对年轻的人群中迅速扩张。这意味着随之而来的将是一场关于政策措施是基于科学证据还是行业对酒精政策的干预而制定的争论。本研究考察了酒精行业行为者如何利用社交媒体。
乌干达之所以被选为研究对象，是因为其存在较高水平的酒精危害以及最近的酒精政策辩论。收集、编码并对 AB InBev 和帝亚吉欧（Diageo）这两家主要酿酒商的乌干达公司以及包括两者在内的贸易协会在 X（前身为 Twitter）上的活动数据进行了主题分析。
X 平台在乌干达被酒精行业行为者广泛用于宣传企业社会责任（CSR）和酒精政策框架内容。几乎没有直接的产品营销。政策问题和解决方案的框架以及参与制定政策和 CSR 的行为者，与跨国酒精公司在其他政治策略中使用的框架相似。在乌干达似乎更强调的内容包括有关农民、非法贸易和对经济贡献的材料。与其他地方一样，它避免关注可能对乌干达所承受的酒精危害水平产生影响的政策措施。从修辞角度来看，X 平台被用于构建一个平行宇宙，在这个宇宙中，实际的危害以及人们对如何减少这些危害的了解都明显缺失。
酒精行业认为自己对乌干达的未来不可或缺，似乎已经与政治家建立了关系，与政府建立了合作伙伴关系，并与农民建立了联盟。这意味着酒精行业可能会很好地反对公共卫生政策措施，即使他们的论点缺乏实质内容，并且与证据不符。
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