Alcohol Abuse Needs To Be TackledJune 29, 2007
WORRYING statistics on alcohol abuse in Namibia were made available during the commemoration of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking this week.
| Although these would not come as a shock to most Namibians who openly acknowledge this fact, we should nevertheless be propelled into trying to do something about it! The findings were the result of a survey by the Social Impact Assessment and Policy Analysis Corporation, and were highlighted this week by Simon Nhongo, Resident Co-ordinator for the United Nations. The report reveals, among others, that more than half of Namibian adults consumed an average of 10 litres of alcohol a week. It also broke down the percentage of users, citing Windhoek to be the 'drinking capital' (69,9 per cent of the adult population). Other statistics included the southern region with 65,2 per cent and the northern regions with what many felt was a surprisingly low figure of 26 per cent. The statistics may well be open to scrutiny and debate and even dismissed out of hand (we were not told how the survey was carried out and what number of people polled), but there are few people who would contest the fact that alcohol is widely used, and more often than not, abused, in this country. Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Yvonne Chaka Chaka, who spoke at the event, highlighted alcohol abuse as an 'evil' that needed addressing throughout African societies. ___________________________________________________________________________ |
