The Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development (VAST-Ghana), a Ghanaian public health organisation, is calling on the government to follow Nigeria's lead and outlaw the sale of alcohol in sachets and small bottles.

VAST-Ghana warns that pocket-sized, cut-price spirits are fuelling addiction among children as young as 10.

The health NGO issued the call on 6th February 2026, days after Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) resumed enforcement of its ban on sachet alcohol and bottles under 200ml and pushed it through despite fierce opposition from manufacturers and business groups.

The Nigerian alcohol and beverage industry had mounted a sustained campaign against the crackdown, with major associations warning of job losses, factory closures, and economic disruption.

NAFDAC held firm. For VAST-Ghana, that resolve offers a lesson Ghana's own Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) should take to heart.

"By acting decisively, NAFDAC has shown that safeguarding the public, especially children and minors, from early alcohol exposure requires strong regulatory enforcement rather than just words," VAST-Ghana Executive Director Labram Musah said in a statement.

At the heart of the issue is price. Sachet alcohol, typically high-strength spirits of 43 per cent or more, can be bought in Ghana for as little as three cedis, roughly 27 US cents. Miniature bottles fetch around five cedis. For less than the cost of a bottle of water, a child can purchase a drink potent enough to cause liver damage.

VAST-Ghana says alcohol is now the most commonly used substance among Ghanaian students, citing research published in BMC Public Health in May 2025, with first use recorded in children as young as 10. The sachets, small enough to slip into a school uniform pocket, are widely available at transport terminals, community gatherings, and near schools.

Ghana's alcohol market, far from shrinking, is projected to grow by 13 per cent annually, according to the 2025 Alcohol Market Report, a trend the organisation describes not as economic vigour but as evidence of a deepening addiction crisis.

Ghana is not the first country in the region to confront the problem. Uganda banned sachet alcohol in 2019, with visible results: high-potency spirits largely disappeared from public transport hubs. Malawi followed in 2025 with a ban praised by the World Health Organisation and the University of Stirling as "a blueprint for public health advances in Africa."

Both countries, VAST-Ghana argues, demonstrated that prohibition need not damage the broader economy. Instead, it tends to shift consumption towards regulated, safer formats while reducing state expenditure on alcohol-related healthcare and road accidents.

The organisation argues that Ghana need not wait for new legislation. The FDA already holds the authority under the Public Health Act (Act 851) to ban sachet alcohol through administrative order, a route that would sidestep the parliamentary process the industry has historically used to delay reform.

The timing of the call is not accidental. Earlier this month, Mahama Ayariga, the Majority Leader in Parliament, announced that the government intends to introduce an Alcohol Control Regulations Bill. The legislation, as outlined, would restrict alcohol marketing, limit broadcast advertising, and curb sponsorships targeting young people and other vulnerable groups.

VAST-Ghana welcomed the announcement but stressed that a ban on sachet and miniature packaging should not wait for the bill to complete its passage through Parliament.

The organisation is asking the government and the FDA to take four specific steps:

The FDA should immediately ban the production and sale of alcohol in sachets and plastic (PET) bottles. Ghana should formally adopt the WHO's SAFER technical package, covering five evidence-based interventions: availability restrictions, drink-driving enforcement, treatment access, advertising bans, and alcohol taxation.

The government should introduce and enforce conflict-of-interest rules to prevent alcohol industry actors from shaping public health policy. And the National Alcohol Regulations, long in draft, should be finalised without further delay.

The WHO attributes roughly three million deaths each year to alcohol use globally, identifying it as a causal factor in more than 200 diseases.

VAST-Ghana's executive director, Labram Musah, says Ghana faces a choice between short-term industry interests and the long-term health of its population. He says the window for action is now.