Lawmakers try to clamp down on Vietnamese love for beer

Vietnam | In an effort to curb rising medical costs and drunken driving, Vietnam will ban alcohol advertising on radio and TV from 6 pm to 9 pm, as well as before and after children’s programmes. The new law takes effect in January 2020.

Another bill, which would have restricted the hours for alcohol sales, failed to pass through parliament.

Accidents caused by drunken drivers are considered a major problem. The number of traffic accidents fell after the government sharply hiked penalties for drunken driving in 2016. But the number could be rising again as increasing prosperity allows more people to buy cars.

There were 4,030 traffic accidents in Vietnam in the first three months of this year, killing 1,905 people, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee. That is about the same pace as 2018, when there were 8,200 fatalities. Drunken driving accidents account for less than 2 percent of all fatalities, but the government fears that this number will go up as more cars hit the streets and more people hit the bottle.

The Vietnamese consume 8.3 litres of alcohol per capita, easily surpassing the global average of 6.4 litres, according to a survey released by the World Health Organisation in 2018.

Vietnam has been one of largest and fastest growing beer markets in the region. Consumers have a strong preference for beer over other alcoholic drinks. Although per capita consumption already stands at 47 litres beer, observers believe that the market will continue to grow both in volume and, more importantly, in value.