Alcohol addiction high in Gulu

GULU, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 400 patients have been treated at Prevention, Awareness, Counseling, and Treatment of Alcoholism (PACTA) Uganda in Gulu, for drug addiction over the past 7 years.

PACTA Uganda, is a non-profit organization established in Gulu City 2018 to provide community-based treatment and psychosocial support for people battling substance use disorders across northern Uganda.

According to the center’s latest reports, more than 60% of clients seeking rehabilitation services are addicted to alcohol, making it the most prevalent substance of concern. Others are addicted to marijuana, mairunji among others.

Statistics from the facility indicated that 400 have been treated for addiction, on admission, while more than 1,000 families that were affected by such addiction have been impacted.

Fabio Ivan Olal, a medical officer at PACTA Uganda, in the past few years, they have seen a steady increase in alcohol-related cases among people as young as 12 years to 28 years.

Acholi sub-region has long battled post-war trauma, unemployment, and poverty; factors that psychiatrists say contribute to widespread alcohol consumption.

Olal explained that locally distilled spirits, such as waragi and lira-lira, as well as those packed in 100ml bottles, are cheap, accessible, and unregulated, making them more harmful. For as low as 500 shillings one can buy a bottle of beverage with between 40-50% alcohol content.

Several surveys by the World Health Organisation (WHO) have placed Uganda among the world’s leading consumers of alcohol for more than 30 years, while in East Africa, it leads in the consumption of alcohol with a per capita consumption of 9.5 liters per year.

On manufacture and consumption of alcohol, WHO’s Global Health Observatory database puts Uganda as the highest consumer of home-brewed and informally produced alcohol in East Africa with 89%.

Olal explained that overindulgence in alcohol and drug addiction affects not only an individual but the entire family and neighbors as exhibited in strained relationships, wasted finances, family breakdowns, and public nuisance.

While for those who are addicted, the cost of rehabilitation cannot be afforded by many average households.

At PACTA the cost of treating a patient for drug addiction is shillings 70,000 per day, and a minimum of shillings 2.5 million shillings per month.

He appealed to schools to start investing in mental health clubs, where learners are sensitized on the dangers of drug abuse before they even start thinking of trying it.

In schools, students, due to the pressure of studies, would want to revise so much within a few weeks, which forces them to resort to the use of drugs to keep them awake for hours at night.”

Andrew Kidega, a student mental health first aider, revealed that several students in his school use alcohol, with the belief that it “activates their brains” to study for longer and understand faster.

Alcohol and alcoholic beverages contain ethanol, which is a psychoactive and toxic substance with dependence-producing properties.

In Uganda, approximately 8,200 alcohol-related deaths occur annually. These include deaths from liver diseases, other health complications, and deaths from various causes linked to alcohol consumption such as traffic crashes, according to the Ministry of Health.

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