Dataset Information

Extended lockdown and India's alcohol policy: a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Since 25th March 2020 India went into a complete and extended lockdown. Alcohol production, sales, and purchase were barred with this overnight prohibition order. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the media reports published within the first month of the nationwide lockdown with the objectives (a) using the media reports as indications of possible public health impact and population response of a sudden alcohol prohibition in India, (b) suggesting areas for future research.

Methods

We performed thematic and content analysis of 350 articles published online in national newspapers between the 26th March, 2020 and 25th April, 2020. Initial inductive, followed by deductive coding was done in this exploratory thematic analysis.

Results

The thematic analysis revealed four main themes: the beneficial aspects of the policy, the harmful aspects of the policy, non-compliance and attempts to change and / or subvert the policy, popularity and level of public buy-in of the policy. We generated relevant sub-themes under main themes. Two additional themes, not directly related to the sudden prohibition, were use of stigmatizing language and ethical concerns. The content analysis showed the frequency of the appearance of the main themes and proportions of sub-themes and codes under those main themes.

Conclusion

The harms, perceived from the media reports, should be balanced against the potential benefits. Absence of a national-level alcohol policy was made apparent by the reflexive, disconnected, and conflictual measures. Future research could systematically examine the potential ramifications of alcohol prohibition on public health, social, and economic aspects.

SUBMITTER: Ghosh A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7490258 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Extended lockdown and India's alcohol policy: a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles.

Ghosh Abhishek A Choudhury Shinjini S Basu Aniruddha A Mahintamani Tathagata T Sharma Kshitiz K Pillai Renjith R RR Basu Debasish D Mattoo S K SK

The International journal on drug policy 20200915

<h4>Objectives</h4>Since 25th March 2020 India went into a complete and extended lockdown. Alcohol production, sales, and purchase were barred with this overnight prohibition order. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the media reports published within the first month of the nationwide lockdown with the objectives (a) using the media reports as indications of possible public health impact and population response of a sudden alcohol prohibition in India, (b) suggesting areas for future researc ...[more]

PMID: 32947138

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Dataset Information

Extended lockdown and India's alcohol policy: a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Extended lockdown and India's alcohol policy: a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles.

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