The Ministry of Health (MOH) has proposed banning the sale of liquor and beer between 10pm and 6am in an effort to curb rising consumption rates, according to Tuoi Tre.

The HCMC traffic police department proposed a similar ban last year but found little support from city authorities, but the MOH has recently taken up the cause, though it admits it needs some tweaking:

“Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the legal department of the Ministry of Health, admitted that it is acceptable to establish a limit but authorities are studying measures to make the ban more effective if it is approved by the law-making National Assembly,” reports Tuoi Tre.

At a May 7 conference in Hanoi, organized by the Ministry of Health to “discourage unhealthy drinking,” attendees were presented with the latest numbers that found Vietnamese drink more than 3 billion liters of beer a year.

Vu Thi Minh Hanh, deputy director of the Health Strategy and Policy Institute, said that while global consumption of alcoholic drinks hasn't fluctuated much over the past 10 years, "…consumption in Vietnam has increased continuously, especially among young people and women."

According to market survey company Eurowatch, Vietnamese beer consumption stands at 32 liters per capita, “...making the country the top consumer in Southeast Asia, third in Asia (after China and Japan) and 28th in the world.”

The World Health Organization’s representative to Vietnam, Takeshi Kasai, said that “consumption of alcoholic drinks is common among more than 70 percent of Vietnamese men, of which one of every four people drinks at harmful levels.”

We're all for a healthier Vietnam, but it's hard to imagine that this draft law would be enforceable and may only serve to upset drinkers and vendors.

Maybe they should just make beer more expensive?

[Photo via The City Lane]