Interior PS Omollo [Photo: The Star]
One in every 8 Kenyans is consuming alcohol.
A new report by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) has shown that alcohol abuse is still prevalent in the country across all age cadres.
According to the Interior Principal Secretary for Interior Raymond Omollo, alcohol consumption has crippled service delivery in major sectors in the country
“Alcohol continues to be the most widely used substance of abuse in Kenya with findings pointing towards increasing demand for cheaper and readily available alcoholic products especially chang’aa, traditional brews, and potable spirits,” said Omollo.
“When I first went through the 2022 Drug Use Report, it hit me that we were staring at a crisis of epic proportions. The fact that more than 4 million people used drugs in the country in 2022 was truly staggering, that is 1 in every 10 people,” he added.
The report also showed that the Western region has recorded the highest prevalence of alcohol use at 24 percent, on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use in Kenya.
Coast came in second at 13.9 percent, followed by Central at 12.8 percent.
The NACADA survey also revealed that Western region had the highest prevalence of chang’aa use at 11.4 percent followed by Nyanza 6.3 percent and Rift Valley 3.6 percent.
NACADA CEO Victor Okioma said the revelations from the survey is very worrying, singling out the drop in the age of initiation to as low as 6 yrs.
He called on all the stakeholders to work together to identify the root causes of the drug and substance abuse and come up with sustainable solutions.