The quagmire of alcohol normalization in Nepal: urgent call for a unified alcohol control act

Alcohol consumption in Nepal is increasingly normalized despite its substantial health harms. This commentary critically examines how Nepal’s fragmented regulation, weak enforcement, expanding unrecorded alcohol use, and growing commercial influence have undermined effective control. Drawing on national evidence, behavioral theory, and international experience, it argues that reduction requires enforcement mechanisms integrated with sustained behavior-change interventions, rather than regulation alone. Nepal therefore urgently requires a unified alcohol control bill aligned with country’s federal and sociocultural context.