21 Aug 2018

Alcohol abuse is still a concern across the country.

This was revealed by Moshupa Sub Council chairperson, Mr Sonny Phiri during the ongoing Moshupa Sub-Council meeting on August 20.

Mr Phiri said alcohol related challenges had beleaguered the nation for a long time.

He said it was evident that a significant proportion of young people were engaged in harmful consumption of alcohol as evidenced by incidents of public disorder, road traffic accidents, violence, both at home and workplace as well as behaviours contributing to the escalation of HIV/AIDS.

Mr Phiri, who is also councillor for Magotlhwane/Kgomokasitwa, however revealed that government was currently reviewing a programme aimed at reducing alcohol related harm. 

He said the programme involved the review of the alcohol levy and its implementation, adding that the Ministry of Health and Wellness had also been tasked with conducting public and stakeholder consultations to reduce alcohol related harm across the nation.

He also shared that government further responded by instituting a national campaign consisting of several, multi-pronged strategies to assist people addicted to alcohol. 

He said stakeholder campaigns would be conducted in Moshupa, Manyana and Ranaka among others and urged members of the public to attend and contribute meaningfully to the deliberations.

Meanwhile, Mr Phiri revealed that the availability rate for vital, essential and non-essential drugs was 67, 38.4 and 67 per cent respectively, adding that the average drug availability stood at 57.7 per cent, which he described as the lowest ever recorded by the sub council. 

He, nonetheless, conceded that securing analgesics (pain killers) and anti-fungal drugs was still a challenge.

On other issues, Mr Phiri shared that preliminary activities for the construction of Moshupa Primary Hospital were at an advanced stage, revealing that the bill of quantities for the project had been finalised and a draft invitation to tender had also been submitted to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board for vetting.

Once the process has been finalised, he said, the tender will be publicised to afford members of the public, especially contractors, an opportunity to declare interest to do the project.

He further informed councillors that the expansion of Moshupa Health Post was on-going, disclosing however that the project was stalled by shortage of quantity surveyors in the district. 

Mr Phiri however said architectural drawings had been submitted to the facility management department at the ministry headquarters in Gaborone for assistance. 

He also noted that a project officer had been trained in-house on formulating a bill of quantities to expedite the process. ENDS