By According to the May 2023 WHO report, the rate of consumption in Uganda stands at 12.21 liters of alcohol per capita per year, which is much higher than the average consumption in Africa, that is, an average of 6.3 liters per person per year.
The report also indicates that Ugandan men consume more alcohol than women since on average, men consume an estimated 19.93 liters of pure alcohol annually, while women consume 4.88 liters.
In a bid to regulate its consumption, a private member’s bill, the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill, 2023, which seeks to regulate the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcoholic drinks, was been presented for its first reading to Parliament.
The Bill, which also seeks to prohibit the sale of alcoholic drinks to children, was tabled during the House sitting on Tuesday, 14 November 2023.
Hon. Sarah Opendi (NRM, Tororo District) the mover of the Bill said it has been gazetted as required by law, noting that she was granted leave of the House to introduce the Bill on 08 November 2022.
While appearing before the parliamentary committee on health and trade Opendi reassured Ugandans that the bill is not intended to cut short their enjoyment of the beverage but rather to regulate its consumption.
“We shall not stop someone from buying his/them alcohol and drinking it from home, that is why we said supermarkets can sell alcohol from 10 am – to 10 pm”, she said
On May 25, 2005, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to adopt the Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol, which lists policy options and recommendations for addressing harmful use of alcohol.
Uganda also adopted the recommendation of the high-level meeting on Non- Diseases (NCDs) held in New York on alcohol, which lists policy options and recommendations for addressing the harmful use of alcohol and recommendations of the high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) held in New York on June 19, 2014, which recognized alcohol as a major risk factor for NCDs among other health problems and urged countries to reduce alcohol use to address NCDs.
It is also important to note that Uganda over the years has passed laws perceived to be regulating behavior change which largely has not yielded much results, causing outrage in the public and also confusion in the public.
