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The harmful use of alcohol is one of the leading risk factors for health worldwide and has a direct implication on many health-related diseases, including those for mental and child health, , non-communicable diseases and mental health and injuries
Alcoholism has been defined by the World Health Organization as “a term of long-standing use and variable meaning, generally taken to refer to chronic continual drinking or periodic consumption of alcohol which is characterized by impaired control over drinking, frequent episodes of intoxication, and preoccupation with alcohol and the use of alcohol despite adverse consequences.
Alcohol use disorders continue to be an alarming health issue globally and it has been attributed to 2.5 million deaths per year worldwide. Although the consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol has been proven to have some beneficial effects, the risks associated with alcohol use especially in teenagers and adolescents definitely outweigh any benefit that may occur at a later point in life.
Pro-Health Foundation aims to reduce the health burden caused by the harmful use of alcohol and thereby to save lives, reduce disease and prevent injuries. This will be achieved through a counter advertisement that creates the needed awareness. The campaign aims at achieving a reduction in the intake of alcohol among the youth from the current rate of 41% to -20% by 2022.

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND ITS HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

The consumption of high amounts of alcohol can predispose an individual to cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis, cancer, trauma, diabetes, pancreatitis, gastrointestinal complications such as hemorrhagic gastritis, cerebrovascular diseases like stroke, and neurological complications such as alcoholic tremors, cerebellar degeneration, encephalopathy, impaired memory and mental disorders. The consumption of alcohol has been proven to adversely affect not only the systemic health but also the oral health of an individual. This review highlights the effects of alcohol consumption.

Cardiovascular diseases

Numerous epidemiological studies have observed a complex relationship between both the volume and patterns of alcohol consumption and the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases Specifically, volume and patterns of alcohol consumption have been shown to increase the risk of hypertensive heart disease. The relationship between alcohol and the onset of ischaemic heart disease or ischaemic strokes is complex; people who consume low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol and do not engage in irregular heavy drinking have a lower disease risk, while people who engage in irregular heavy drinking or who consume higher volumes of alcohol have a higher disease risk.

CANCERS

The biological mechanisms of alcohol-related carcinogenesis are not entirely understood, but several pathways have been identified by which alcohol is thought to contribute to cancer development. Most notably, alcohol has been shown to damage permanently the DNA strands in the cell and to inhibit DNA repair processes from functioning, particularly through acetaldehyde – the immediate product of alcohol metabolism. Alcohol use may also lead to nutritional deficiencies that affect DNA processing pathways.

LIVER DISEASES

The causal relationship of alcohol consumption and liver diseases is well established and alcohol has been shown to have an ability to cause hepatocellular damage through ethanol metabolism-associated mechanisms and malnutrition. Alcohol is one of the most frequent causes of liver diseases.
It is a well-established fact that chronic and excessive alcohol consumption adversely affects the health of the consumer.

HEALTH IS WEALTH!!!

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For centuries, multiple medical risks of heavy alcohol drinking have been evident with a simultaneous awareness of a less harmful or sensible drinking limit. Alcohol consumption is causally related to some 100 diseases and conditions and has been found to be one of the most important risk factors for the burden of disease worldwide. One of the most important disease outcomes causally related to alcohol is heart disease, the most common cause of death in many countries, with growing importance from a global perspective. Nonetheless, evidence for the effect of alcohol on the heart is mixed.

There is an opinion that light to moderate alcohol use (up to one standard drink per day for women and up to two standard drinks per day for men) can, in older age groups, reduce the risk of developing and dying from coronary artery disease. This appears to be because small quantities of alcohol alter the lipids and clotting factors in the blood to make them protective against heart disease.

However, heavy drinking (both chronic and a pattern of heavy drinking sessions) increases the risk of coronary artery disease. Heavy drinking is also associated with sudden death from heart failure, irregular heartbeats, and chronic disease of the heart muscle; leading to heart failure, where the heart can no longer pump blood around the body effectively.

Heavy chronic alcohol use is also linked to high blood pressure, particularly in men. Blood pressure increases with drinking more than two or three drinks a day on average and restriction of alcohol lowers the blood pressure. Drinking alcohol in order to ‘protect the heart’ is not advisable, since alcohol is an addictive drug that causes cancer, increases the risk of injury, and causes damage to the fetus in pregnant women. People can find it difficult to limit their drinking to one or two standard drinks a day and heavy drinking actually increases the risk of heart disease.

In 2021, Pro-Health Foundation, an NGO centered on promoting the good health and dietary status of the youth embarked on a counter-advertising campaign against the consumption of alcohol. In this campaign, they strived to create awareness about the negative impact of alcoholism on heart diseases, bring clarity to the misconceptions about alcohol consumption, and reduces 

its intake through advocacy.

With everything stated so far, our objectives are that, within the period of three years, from the commencement of the campaign, Pro- HEALTH Foundation intends to achieve a 30% increase in the awareness creation on matters of alcoholism and its negative effects on human health. The second objective is that, By December 2026, the campaign aims at achieving a reduction in the intake of alcohol among the youth and age from the current 41% to 20%. Also, another objective is To ensure that by December 2028, the number of heart-related diseases arising from the intake of alcohol is reduced by 30%.

Visual pictures are an effective tool for generating counter-ads since individuals forget what they hear or read, but you may probably remember what you see over time. That’s why, as a group, we strive to leverage the visual image of animations to create material for publicity. As a result, the PRO-HEALTH foundation will create methods such as counter-advertising to reduce excessive alcohol usage in the lives of its abusers and to educate them about the harmful health consequences. We will employ animations in the final advertising effort as part of our measures. In order to show the harmful representation of alcohol on the heart in our advertisement, animations will be utilized as a method of advertising using the shockvertising approach in conveying the message, thus employing horror and disgust to portray the damaging depiction of alcohol on the heart.

We use social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as media channels such as TV3, Utv, Citytv, Citifm, and Peace FM, to communicate our messages. This should aid us in communicating with the public at large by allowing us to communicate the message with little delight and related emotions through counter-advertising.

With regards to our field reports, Since our campaign was created as an animated film, there were little field activities. But, during several of our brainstorming sessions, the group agreed to run a quick survey to assist us in better understand how alcohol consumers behave when it comes to drinking. We developed a few research questions, and 100 questionnaires were produced and delivered at random to a few drinking establishments across the city. The group was divided into four subgroups in this regard: the first was created by Zainab Abdullahi Jumia, Jaisey Lawrencia Emefa, and Abigail, who distributed 40 questionnaires in bars and pubs during their field trip in Osu. The second group, comprised of Emmanuel Asieme Ayine, Natasha Dzamesi, and Bernice Bonsi, distributed 30 questionnaires to drinking bars and pubs during their field trip to Shiashie, and the third group, comprised of Evelyn Adjoa Buobu, Patience Ammisah Baba, and Katakiti Akua Millicent, distributed 30 questionnaires during their field trip to Dansoman. All data obtained from this brief questionnaire aided the team in deciding on and developing the campaign objectives, from which the production script and primary message were developed. A member of the group was our campaign voice-over actress and therefore provided the voiceover for the animation.

Alcohol consumption has historically held and continues to hold an important role in social engagement and bonding for many. People drink to socialise, celebrate and relax. While the producers of alcoholic beverages continue to attract consumers to the pleasurable bliss of alcohol, it is almost impossible to imagine that, adversely, this same celebratory beverage that brings happiness and pleasure, can break the life of its loyal consumers apart.

Drinking alcohol is associated with a risk of developing health problems such as mental and behavioural disorders, including alcohol dependency. Major non communicable diseases such as liver cirrhosis, some cancers including cardiovascular disease, and also injuries resulting from violence and road clashes.

According to the WHO, world wide, 3 million deaths every year results from harmful use of alcohol, this represents 5.3% of all deaths. A significant proportion of the disease burden attributable to alcohol consumption tends to occur in relatively younger age groups. In the age group of 20- 39 years, approximately 13.5% of the total deaths are alcohol attributable.

This is why Pro Health Foundation craves to emphasise on those damages associated with alcohol consumption which is not usually talked about, yet  seriously and painfully destroy consumers health and livelihood.

The foundation seeks to bring to the attention of consumers of alcoholic beverages the risk developing non communicable diseases like cardiomyopathy,  which damages the heart due to excessive drinking. Cardiomyopathy is a form of heart disease caused by alcohol abuse; excessive use of alcohol weakens and thins the heart muscles, affecting its ability to pump blood. When your heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, the lack of blood flow disrupts all your body’s major functions.

Shortly put, cardiomyopathy leads to heart failure, resulting in the death of, in this case, the consumer.

Thus, as a foundation, it is our desire to campaign at reducing the intake of alcohol in the country, especially among the youth, and to ensure that the number of heart related diseases arising from the intake of alcohol is reduced by 30% at the close of the year. It is important to note, however, that alcohol effects vary from person to person, depending on a variety of factors which includes; how much you drink, how often you drink, your age, your health status, and your family history. Implying that if a colleague drinks averagely 6 bottles a week and seems medically fine, it does not necessarily apply to you. It is, therefore, helpful to know your drinking ability as well as the other factors mentioned, to keep yourself in check.  

Written by Buobu Evelyn Adjoa

 Index number; BACS 21970

The heart is a very important part of the body. It is mainly responsible for pumping blood into the body. It needs to be taken very good care of because without the heart, the body ceases to function.

There are many habits we as individuals have that put the heart at risk of many heart diseases. The greatest of all is the habit of alcohol consumption.

Alcohol is the ingredient found in wine, beer, and spirits that causes drunkenness.

According to a new study published in The Lancet, global alcohol consumption is continuously increasing. Total annual alcohol consumption has increased by 70% from 21 billion liters in 1990 to 35.7 billion liters in 2017. Low and middle-income countries are leading the trend, with considerable increases seen in Vietnam, India, and China. As a result of this.

Alcoholic drinks have become a favorite of many across the globe. It is served at many functions, in bars, restaurants, and even in the homes of many.

Some studies have linked moderate alcohol use to a lower risk of heart disease over the years. Most people will find these findings reassuring, but they are not a suggestion to begin drinking for health reasons.

Alcohol can be very detrimental to health. It is the greatest enemy of the heart. That is why the Pro-health foundation, as an organization, has decided to take it upon ourselves to advertise and create awareness of the risks of alcohol consumption on the heart.

Alcohol consumption increases an individual’s risk of getting heart disease like high blood pressure, a condition in which the blood’s push against the artery walls becomes excessive. Irregular heartbeat. This is also a condition where the heart is out of its regular rhythm. Weakened heart muscles, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. These diseases are among the many causes of death in our society today.

It is therefore advisable to totally put away the consumption of alcohol if one wants to have a healthy heart and stay alive.

RISK ASSOCIATED WITH ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.

PRO-HEALTH foundation seeks to serve as a catalyst in bringing sustainable change in the health lives of Ghanaians. Alcohol consumption has been identified as an important risk factor for illness, disability, and mortality (Rehm et al. 2009b).In fact, in the last comparative risk assessment conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the detrimental impact of alcohol consumption on the global burden of disease and injury was surpassed only by unsafe sex and childhood underweight status but exceeded. Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are chronic and relapsing illnesses that contribute to around 4% of the global burden of disease (Margolese et al., 2004; Rehm et al., 2009).The prevalence of 12-month and lifetime AUD (DSM-5) has been reported to be 13.9% and 29.1%, respectively (Grant et al., 2016).AUDs increase the risk of many adverse consequences, including injury, disease, death. Alcohol is the most common drug used among adults in the United States. The use of alcohol is associated with an increased risk of injuries and accidents. Even a single episode of excessive drinking can lead to a negative outcome.

These range from psychological models of addiction that view drug use and abuse as a coping strategy to deal with stress, to reduce tension, to self medicate, and to decrease withdrawal-related distress, 31 – 37 to neurobiological models that propose incentive sensitization and stress allostasis concepts to explain how it affects their health.
PRO-HEALTH provide creative leadership to facilitate and coordinate health improvement solutions.  We are a catalyst and advocate for quality health and wellness. We as a group disseminate health information and assess healthcare needs.  We are knowledgeable about the services of health-related organizations in our community. We work to provide opportunities for the community to be informed.
In conclusion Our mission is to build long-term partnerships with local communities and health systems to facilitate sustainable, innovative, and life-saving health and dietary care for the youth.

ZAINABU ABDULLAHI JUMAI
BACS21810

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MAN SUFFERS HEART ATTACK THROUGH ALCOHOL ABUSE

Alcohol consumption has historically held and continues to hold an important role in social engagement and bonding for many. People drink to socialise, celebrate and relax. While the producers of alcoholic beverages continue to attract consumers to the pleasurable bliss of alcohol, it is almost impossible to imagine that, adversely, this same celebratory beverage that brings happiness and pleasure, can break the life of its loyal consumers apart.

Drinking alcohol is associated with a risk of developing health problems such as mental and behavioural disorders, including alcohol dependency. Major non communicable diseases such as liver cirrhosis, some cancers including cardiovascular disease, and also injuries resulting from violence and road clashes.

According to the WHO, world wide, 3 million deaths every year results from harmful use of alcohol, this represents 5.3% of all deaths. A significant proportion of the disease burden attributable to alcohol consumption tends to occur in relatively younger age groups. In the age group of 20- 39 years, approximately 13.5% of the total deaths are alcohol attributable.

This is why Pro Health Foundation craves to emphasise on those damages associated with alcohol consumption which is not usually talked about, yet  seriously and painfully destroy consumers health and livelihood.

The foundation seeks to bring to the attention of consumers of alcoholic beverages the risk developing non communicable diseases like cardiomyopathy,  which damages the heart due to excessive drinking. Cardiomyopathy is a form of heart disease caused by alcohol abuse; excessive use of alcohol weakens and thins the heart muscles, affecting its ability to pump blood. When your heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, the lack of blood flow disrupts all your body’s major functions.

Shortly put, cardiomyopathy leads to heart failure, resulting in the death of, in this case, the consumer.

Thus, as a foundation, it is our desire to campaign at reducing the intake of alcohol in the country, especially among the youth, and to ensure that the number of heart related diseases arising from the intake of alcohol is reduced by 30% at the close of the year.

It is important to note, however, that alcohol effects vary from person to person, depending on a variety of factors which includes; how much you drink, how often you drink, your age, your health status, and your family history. Implying that if a colleague drinks averagely 6 bottles a week and seems medically fine, it does not necessarily apply to you. It is, therefore, helpful to know your drinking ability as well as the other factors mentioned, to keep yourself in check.  

Written by Buobu Evelyn Adjoa

 Index number; BACS 21970



Alcohol consumption has historically held and continues to hold an important role in social engagement and bonding for many. People drink to socialise, celebrate and relax. While the producers of alcoholic beverages continue to attract consumers to the pleasurable bliss of alcohol, it is almost impossible to imagine that, adversely, this same celebratory beverage that brings happiness and pleasure, can break the life of its loyal consumers apart.

Drinking alcohol is associated with a risk of developing health problems such as mental and behavioural disorders, including alcohol dependency. Major non communicable diseases such as liver cirrhosis, some cancers including cardiovascular disease, and also injuries resulting from violence and road clashes.

According to the WHO, world wide, 3 million deaths every year results from harmful use of alcohol, this represents 5.3% of all deaths. A significant proportion of the disease burden attributable to alcohol consumption tends to occur in relatively younger age groups. In the age group of 20- 39 years, approximately 13.5% of the total deaths are alcohol attributable.

This is why Pro Health Foundation craves to emphasise on those damages associated with alcohol consumption which is not usually talked about, yet  seriously and painfully destroy consumers health and livelihood.

The foundation seeks to bring to the attention of consumers of alcoholic beverages the risk developing non communicable diseases like cardiomyopathy,  which damages the heart due to excessive drinking. Cardiomyopathy is a form of heart disease caused by alcohol abuse; excessive use of alcohol weakens and thins the heart muscles, affecting its ability to pump blood. When your heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, the lack of blood flow disrupts all your body’s major functions.

Shortly put, cardiomyopathy leads to heart failure, resulting in the death of, in this case, the consumer.

Thus, as a foundation, it is our desire to campaign at reducing the intake of alcohol in the country, especially among the youth, and to ensure that the number of heart related diseases arising from the intake of alcohol is reduced by 30% at the close of the year.

It is important to note, however, that alcohol effects vary from person to person, depending on a variety of factors which includes; how much you drink, how often you drink, your age, your health status, and your family history. Implying that if a colleague drinks averagely 6 bottles a week and seems medically fine, it does not necessarily apply to you. It is, therefore, helpful to know your drinking ability as well as the other factors mentioned, to keep yourself in check.  

Written by Buobu Evelyn Adjoa

 Index number; BACS 21970

Alcohol abuse is on the rise among the youth and this led to many heart disease such as high blood pressure, heart failure and stroke.
Counter advertising occurred when the ad is created to target and opposed the message of another advertisement. Alcohol counter advertising uses marketing tactics such as messages, images and warning labels to refute pro-substance and increase pro health influences and messages.
Pro Health Foundation seeks to create awareness on the effect  of alcohol consumption among the youth. We also seek to educate youth on the potential negative consequences of alcohol abuse or use.
Studies have shown advertisement exposure to be associated with alcohol consumption and adverse consequences related to harmful drinking behaviours.
Drinking alcohol is associated with a risk of developing health problems such as mental and behavioural disorders, including alcohol dependence, major noncommunicable disease such as liver cirrhosis, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Studies sheoe that, associated with more than 200 types of disease and injuries, alcohol is linked with 3.3 million deaths around the world every year.
The WHO global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol seeks to improve the health and social outcomes for individuals, families, and communities, with considerably reduced morbidity and mortality due to harmful use of alcohol and their ensuing social consequences.
It is also envisaged that this global strategy will promote and support local l, regional and global actions to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol.
PRO HEALTH FOUNDATION will divide measures to create awareness on the dangers of alcohol advertising and this will be done through yeh use of animation. The animation video will show ways in which alcohol consumption affects the heart and what becomes of the heart after alcohol consumption.

As an NGO that is keen on promoting the good health status of the youth in Ghana, we have embarked on a campaign to say no to alcohol consumption and also counter-advertise the excessive consumption of alcohol and it’s effect on human health, most especially the heart.
In our objectives as an organisation, we want to ensure that by December 2026, our campaign will achieve a 20% reduction of alcohol intake among the youth from the current figure of 41%.
We also want to ensure that by December 2028, the number if heart related disease rising from alcohol intake is reduced by 30%.
Pro Health Foundation will employ the use of animation to create this publicity which will be in th a form of shockvertising. The message in the animation will use horror to depict the damaging effect alcohol has on our heart and on our body as a whole.
This publicity will be done on the organizations Instagram, Twitter and Facebook platform and also some selected media channels such as Peace Fm, CitiFm, TV3 to convey the message on the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption on the human heart.

With regards to the field experience for this campaign. The group had a brainstorming session to help develop questions for the questionnaire to be used. The questions seeks to know the reason people consume alcohol and what effect they think alcohol may have on their heart.
A sub group of four was created for the distribution of questionnaire to some parts of Accra. The data collected from the questionnaire helped us in developing our campaign objectives and scripts for the animation as well.

BERNICE BONSI

BACS21963

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In recent times, alcoholism has become a very common addiction amongst youth all over the world. The growing incidence of alcohol consumption amongst the youth has become a topical issue within healthcare professionals and policy makers because of its potential negative effects.

According to research conducted by the Ghana Health Service,about 37% of males and females are known to be alcohol users and this has raised concern about the consequences of alcohol consumption in Ghana. The Ghana Medical Association has proven that after tobacco, alcohol is the second largest cause of heart-related diseases. Excessive alcohol intake amounts to cardiomyopathy, a disorder that affects the heart muscle resulting in heart failure which can cause death. This article sought to use counter-advertising as a technique towards minimizing excessive consumption of alcohol and to prevent cardiomyopathy. 

Counter advertising is an advertising process that uses attention-seeking techniques that are displayed initially in original adverts but change it to deliver a different message to the audience. This technique tends to catch the attention of the eye because the keymessage is embedded in the advert. This simple techniques are used in sending the message across to the target audience.

Visual images are powerful tools that are  used in creating counter adverts because people forget what they hear or what they read, but they are likely to remember what they see over sometime and this is why we as a group seek to use the visual representation of animation in creating the advertising content. The PRO-HEALTH foundation, as a result, will devise measures such as counter-advertising in curbing excessive alcohol abuse and to educate the audience about the negative health factors associated with it. As part of our measures, we will use animations in creating the final advertising work.

In terms of our advertising, we will use animation with the shockvertising technique to deliver the message, thus using horror and disgust to portray the harmful depiction of alcohol on the heart in our advertisement.

As part of our message delivery, we sort to using Facebook,Instagram and twitter platforms and as well as media outlets like TV3, Utv, Cititv, Citi fm and peace FM respectively to convey information. This will help us to interact with the general public using the counter advertisement to deliver the message with low pleasure and high arousal.

This campaign has a high tendency in aiming to reduce the health burden caused by the harmful use of alcohol, reduce diseases and prevent injuries once the campaign commences. This will be done within the period of 3 years .We intend toachieve a 30% increment from the awareness creation on issues relating to alcohol abuse and its harmful effects on the human health.We also sort to reduce the intake of alcohol amongst the youth from the current 41% to 20% by December 2026. This is a long term objective we seek to undertake.

Pictures such as the one below will be used to create awareness about the hazards of the abuse of alcohol as stated earlier. 

 

As part of our field experiences which included brainstorming, we concluded on conducting a survey to gather data on whypeople abuse alcohol, their mode of consumption, when and why they drink alcohol excessively. Few research questions and 100 questionnaires were printed and distributed to a few drinking pubs. Sub groups were created with each member carrying out distribution of the questionnaires. The first group which I was part of together with Zainab Abdullahi Jumia and Abigail, we distributed 40 of the questionnaires in bars and pubs. Bernice Bonsi together with Emmanuel Asieme Ayine and Natasha Dzamesi who formed the second group. Thirty questionnaires were distributed to drinking bars and pubs on their field trip to Shiashie. The third group which consisted of Evelyn Adjoa Buobu, Patience Amisah Baba and Katakiti Akua Millicent distributed 30 of the questionnaires in Dansoman.

The Information gathered from this short survey helped us to develop our script and the entire animation in sending the central messaging strategy.

Portia Ofotsuwa Dadeboe was our campaign voice-over actor.She acted the voice over by going accordingly with our script with the assistance of the animator.

 

 REFERENCES. 

Levitt, T. (1970). The morality (?) of advertising, Harvard Business Review, 37 (July/Aug), pp. 57-84.

World Health Organization (2004).Global status report on alcohol 2004. Geneva

(http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_status_report_2004_overview.pdf, accessed

21 November 2014).

REFERENCES

NAME:JAISEY LAWRENCIA EMEFA -INDEX NUMBER:BACS211036