Some alcoholic products are seen at a wines and spirit. [Harun Wathari, Standard]
A survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) this year revealed that Uganda tops the list of African countries where alcohol is highly consumed.
Despite most Kenyans consuming more alcohol compared to other forms of drugs according to the newly-released report by the National Authority for Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), Kenya does not make the top 10 African countries with the most alcohol consumption.
According to the May 2023 WHO report, the rate of consumption in Uganda stands at 12.21 litres of alcohol per capita per year, which is much higher than the average consumption in Africa, that is, an average of 6.3 litres per person per year.
According to the report, Ugandan men consume more alcohol than women since on average, men consume an estimated 19.93 litres of pure alcohol annually, while women consume 4.88 litres.
In order to reduce the rate of alcohol intake, Uganda has been planning to increase the consumption age from 18 to 21 years.
The Yoweri-Museveni-led nation is followed closely by Seychelles which has an average annual alcohol consumption of 11.99 litres of pure alcohol for men, and 4.72 litres for women.
On the other hand, Tanzania was ranked third with an average annual alcohol consumption of 10.36 litres.
Other African countries on the list are Cameroon, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Berlin, Eswatini and Mauritius in that order.
Although Kenya was not top ten, the rate of alcohol consumption per year per person is higher than the African average standing at 14.1.
The report published by NACADA on September 11 showed that alcohol is the most consumed drug in Kenya.
Further, the Western region had the highest prevalence of alcohol use at 23.8 per cent followed by the Coast region at 13.9 per cent.
The report also showed that there is an increased demand for cheaper alcoholic drinks like changaa, traditional alcoholic beverages and potable spirits.
Nairobi was reported to have the highest prevalence of produced legal alcohol at 10.3 per cent followed by Central at 10.0 per cent and Eastern at 8.4 per cent.
