The Ugandan government has announced plans to implement an earlier agreed policy to raise the legal age for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21 years.
The move was announced by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Mental Health at the Ministry of Health, Dr Hafsa Lukwata.
She was speaking at the Second National Secondary Schools Prefects Conference an event organised at Hotel Africana in Kampala on June 22 by Drugs Hapana Initiative, an NGO, Uganda’s top mental health facility, Butabika National Referral Hospital, and CBS FM radio. The conference was held under the theme “Stand Against Drug Abuse”.
The move is part of the government’s strategy to tackle the negative effects related to alcohol abuse and its impact on public health and social welfare.
The policy to control the consumption and sale of alcohol was passed by the Cabinet in November 2019 but it has never been implemented.
Raising the legal drinking age to 21 from the current 18 is one among several measures under the policy. Others include designating sell of alcoholic beverages to licensed establishments and allocating drinking hours.
Health officials believe if implemented, the policy can guide the development of interventions to ensure safe production, sale, consumption and management of alcohol-related problems or conditions.
Data from the health ministry shows that the use of alcohol starts as early as 14 years when teenagers use alcohol in some parts of the country, especially areas where sugarcane production is carried out.
As a result, they say many of the children who use alcohol at an early age become addicted to it and later succumb to preventable diseases such as kidney or liver failure.
According to the health ministry, on average persons aged 15 and above consume 9.8 litres of alcohol a year. This is 3.6 litres more compared to the African continent average consumption which stands at 6 litres.
While the health ministry moves to implement the policy, it might take years for this policy to fully be adopted into society.
