Public health implications of alcohol industry corporate social responsibility programs in Latin America and the Caribbean

PANTANI, DANIELA; PELTZER, RAQUEL; CREMONTE, MARIANA; ROBAINA, KATHERINE; BABOR, THOMAS; PINSKY, ILANA

Congreso; Society for epidemiological and social research on alcohol; 2016

Introduction: This research identified and analyzed corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs undertaken by the alcohol industry in Latin America and the Caribbean. The need to study CSR in the alcohol field is justified by the influence of marketing on alcohol consumption, the role of alcohol corporations as a vector of non communicable diseases, the expanded CSR activities of the industry into policy areas and the patterns of alcohol consumption in the region. Methods: Nine health experts from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay conducted a content analysis on 218 activities using a standardized protocol. These activities were selected from the database maintained by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking. The LEAD procedure (Longitudinal, Expert and All Data) was applied to verify the accuracy of industry reported descriptions. Results: More than half of the actions were carried out in four countries: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Government involvement was observed in 42.7% of the activities. Only 28.9% had industry reported evaluation, most of them process evaluations, and the majority could not fit into any WHO category. 84% were found to have the potential to enhance corporate image and 86% lacked evidence of effectiveness or had insufficient studies to evaluate their results. Conclusion: The results question the quality and added value of CSR activities run by the alcohol industry in LAC, and suggest they are being used in part to market the industry s products. Policy makers, NGOs and researchers are being subjected to industry interference in the development of effective public strategies to reduce alcoholrelated problems.