Examining the Strategies and Tactics of the Alcohol Industry During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Botswana.

AIM: To examine the strategies and tactics of the alcohol industry during the COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana, a time when the country implemented a hard lockdown with strict restrictions on the sale, distribution and consumption of alcohol.

METHODS

A qualitative content analysis was conducted of newspaper articles (n = 11), policy documents (n = 2) and other online sources (n = 2) published between 2020 and 2021.

RESULTS

The study shows that the alcohol industry was actively involved in influencing alcohol policy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana. It mainly employed five main strategic framings, emphasising individual drinking behaviour, corporate social responsibility as a "good" deed, downplaying alcohol's role in COVID harm, treating the Botswana government as a "strategic partner" and using legal action to influence policy towards commercial interests to contradict public health protocols.

CONCLUSIONS

The activities by the alcohol industry during the COVID-19 provide insight into the increasing influence that industry actors have in Botswana policy-making. The studied strategies undermine public health interventions, demonstrating the urgent need to determine how this business sector impact health interventions in low and middle-income countries.