Uganda spends over US$677,490,337 (Shs2.654Trn) to treat alcohol related diseases in the country annually, Margaret Muhanga, Minister of State for Primary Health Care has revealed.
The Minister wants the legal age for alcohol consumption increased from 18 to 21years.
“As Ministry of Health, we use an estimate of US$677,490,337 to treat diseases that are caused by alcohol consumption normally exacerbated by alcohol consumption. We therefore propose that a clause to identify and support problems of alcohol drinkers be added in this bill,” said Muhanga.
Minister Muhanga made the remarks while appearing before the joint parliamentary committees of Health and Trade to submit Government’s position on the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023 that was tabled by Sarah Opendi (DWR Tororo), where she defended the decision to increase legal alcohol drinking age to 21, saying the move is intended to minimize impact of brain damage during this critical stage of development.
She said, “The legal drinking age is a public health measure aimed at protecting young individuals from the potential harms associated with alcohol use during the critical period of development. The brain continues to develop throughout adolescence and into the early twenties. Exposure to alcohol drinking during this critical period can have lasting effects on cognitive function, memory and decision making. You know when most people are drunk, they make lame decisions which they may regret later. Setting the legal drinking age at 21 helps to minimize the impact of alcohol later on developing brains.”
Muhanga informed the committee that the 2014 nationwide steps NCD risk factor survey revealed that 28.9 percent of the adults aged between 18 to 69 years consume alcohol but says that this figure increased to 31.1 percent by 2023.
Muhanga also wants the bill to regulate online advertising and also ban alcohol adverts during time when children are still watching Television.
