18 Nov 2020

Alcohol and drug abuse are regarded as the major root cause of social ills such as the now prevalent Gender Based Violence (GBV).

This observation was made by Community Health Services Advisor in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Mr Samuel Kolane in an interview recently.

He indicated that the abuse of alcohol and drugs played a major role in increasing incidents of domestic violence and family breakdown.

Mr Kolane noted that reports strongly linked heavy drinking to domestic violence, especially intimate partner violence and violence against children, adding that there were also increased crimes by youth, road traffic accidents and low productivity at workplaces, which invariably have effects on families.   

According to Ministry of Health and Wellness, the average consumption of alcohol in Botswana is 8.4 litres per capita, which is higher than the African average.

However, Mr Kolane explained that a total number of 579 people, of whom 416 were outpatient, received treatment for substance use in the year 2019.

He said the problem of alcohol and drug abuse in Botswana affected all age groups but there was documented evidence linking alcohol related incidents such as, violence and cardiovascular diseases to the younger age groups.

Alcohol and drug abuse, he averred had dire consequences on the health of individuals as it was highly associated with several health problems including HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, cardio-vascular diseases, liver problems, psychiatric conditions and many cancers.

Mr Kolane stated that researches pointed to a correlation between alcohol abuse and high risk sexual behaviours including multiple sexual partners, unprotected intercourse and the exchange of sex for money or drugs ports.

He highlighted that this exacerbated the problem of HIV for Botswana, which currently had the third highest adult HIV prevalence rate in the world at 21.9 percent, after Lesotho and Swaziland with 23.4 and 28.8 percent respectively.

Regarding economic effects, he said there was documented evidence indicating that excessive alcohol consumption exerted a substantial economic burden worldwide including Botswana.

Mr Kolane cited an example of what was commonly referred to as intangible costs, which represented pain, suffering and the deterioration of quality of life, adding that this often needed government intervention which came at a substantial cost.

Pertaining to measures put in place to address the issue, Mr Kolane said Botswana had, in recent years accelerated its alcohol response to curb the growing alcohol related harm.

He explained that the interventions put in place included levy on alcoholic beverages fund order 2008, amendment of road traffic act, separation of the trade and liquor act into trade act 2003 and liquor act 2003, traditional beer regulations, national alcohol policy for Botswana, development of a campaign identity, introduction of educational campaigns, community volunteers, banning of alcohol sachets and monitoring of alcohol marketing.

Mr Kolane urged the youth to be vigilant at all times, adding that they were being targeted by the alcohol industry because if they started drinking at a young age, they would then have higher chance of developing addiction and becoming long term customers.

Botswana Substance Abuse Support Network (BOSASNet) Counsellor, Ms Leah Senwelo said alcohol, tobacco and other illicit substances such as marijuana, crack cocaine, meth-cathinone (CAT), were a growing concern in Botswana both in youth and adults.

She said meth-cathinone seemed to be on the rise.

“We continue to have clients who report to use it in high numbers.

Most of them are the tertiary students and those in the working class,” she said.

Ms Senwelo indicated that according to their clients, for example the youths reported that they used substances because of curiosity, fun, peer pressure, school work pressures as well as to fit in as substances boosted their self-esteem.

For some adults, she said they reported work challenges, such as deadlines, responsibilities that came with taking care of their families, relationship issues such as divorce and boredom to have pushed them to use substances.

Ms Senwelo referred to substance abuse as a family disease, adding that when one family member was an addict, the whole family tended to suffer as the person’s behavior changed.

“The parent who was always home becomes absent, spends the funds that were intended to be spent on project on substances.

Some children might end up having to grow up quickly and assume adult responsibilities,” she said.

Further Ms Senwelo said some even lived in fear as they never knew in which state their parent would come in as some got violent when under the influence of substances.

She indicated that other family members blamed themselves for the user’s behavior, which might   lead to depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

In the instance where a child was the one who was an addict, she said they mostly misbehaved and experienced drop in their grades and this resulted in a lot of conflicts in the family.

“Parents experience heartache due to the disappointment they feel towards their substance using children,” she said.

She urged the government to work with civil society organisations to establish effective substance use disorders (SUD) treatment programs and educate or train the relevant personnel on SUD matters so that they could be able to help the nation. Ends