Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), Ghana’s leading total beverage business has launched a pilot underage drinking awareness campaign for senior high school students dubbed  “hit the books, not the booze”, aimed at educating 1,000 teenage students against alcohol consumption through drama and focus group discussions.

The pilot campaign was launched at the Nungua Senior High School with over 800 students from the Nungua Senior High School, Ebenezer Senior High School and Sacred Heart Technical Institute all in Accra.

Through the campaign,students will be educated by Clinical Psychologists from the University of Ghana School of Medicine and Dentistry on the effects of alcohol, causes and consequences of alcohol abuse and how to tackle peer pressure, after which they will also sign a pledge board not to drink,and by signing, become advocates to stand up against underage drinking for themselves and their peers.

Gabriel Opoku-Asare, Corporate Relations Director of GGBL, said “as part of our commitment to reduce alcohol abuse, we have tailored our drink education programme for Senior High School students to educate them on the effects of alcohol on the underage. In 2012, Diageo, our parent company together with five global alcohol producers committed to tackle alcohol abuse in 5 main areas; Reducing underage drinking; Strengthening and expanding marketing Codes of Practice; Providing consumer information and responsible product information; Reducing drink driving; and, Enlisting the support of retailers to reduce harmful drinking; and this campaign is designed to deliver on the first commitment”.

In Ghana, GGBL actively promotes these five commitments through a number of initiatives such as ‘Twa Kwano Mmom’ for commercial drivers, ‘What’s your DrinkiQ’ for tertiary students, ‘Master Bar Academy’ for bar staff as well as a number of marketing and advertising programmes.

Mr. Opoku-Asare added,“as the leading beverage business in Ghana and a company listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, GGBL operates under strict codes of business, as part of our own corporate commitment,and our conduct as a business, which remain at the heart of everything we do.The underage alcohol education intervention is another illustration of our commitment to doing business the right way, to ensure that alcohol is not abused”.

Mrs. Cecilia Asabea Boateng, Headmistress of Nungua Senior High School,thanked GGBL for the initiative and appealed to other Corporate institutions to support various extra-curricular activities initiated by the school to keep the students engaged and focused on their books.

The District Counsellor for the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Education Office, Mrs. Charity Armaah,encouraged the students to take advantage of the focus group discussions with the Clinical Psychologists to openly discuss any concerns they may have about alcohol use. She said this will help them make informed choices and desist from alcohol at their age.

The pilot campaign will be carried out in three schools; Nungua Senior High School, Ebenezer Senior High School in Dansoman and Sacred Heart Technical Institute in Jamestown, as part of the first phase and replicated across other schools in subsequent phases.