Responsible drinking messages (RDM) have been found not to influence the alcohol drinking habits of University students in Buea, the hub of the largest higher education enrollment in English-speaking Cameroon.

Dr. Enow Daniel Bisong revealed in the thesis, ‘Effectiveness of brewers responsible drinking messages against alcohol abuse amongst higher education students in Buea’ defended in the faculty of Social and Management Sciences boardroom on August 3.

The PhD thesis explored the intent and manner of presentation of RDM. It indicated that 100% of the 774 UB, CUIB, and HIBMAT respondents were aware of RDMs. 62.7% said it had no significant effect on their alcohol consumption.

While 86.3% suggested they understood what ‘drink responsibly’ meant, 60.9% opined that the RDM was not credible in fighting alcohol abuse. Due to the word size emphasis and placement of ‘drink’ over ‘responsible’.

Co- supervising the candidate, Kingsley Ngange, PhD expressed worries that if ‘gold can rust, then what will iron do?’
He said the work was primordial in triggering further research, especially by health scholars to save the next generation.

Enow Daniel recommended that the government should produce and implement the regulator text to guide the sales of beer. Additionally, brewery companies should produce independent DRMs and disseminate them.

Statistics from brewers show that Cameroon drinks over one billion liters of alcohol yearly. This has continued to spark national debates on the health risks.

Source : Cameroon News Agency