DRUG ADDICTION ENGULFS AFRICA

Kampala--25% of patients at Butabiika national referal hospital are a result
of alcohol or drug addiction

There are over 200 million drug addicts around the world today," said
a representative of the United Nations at the International Symposium
on drugs, organised by the Pontifical Council and the Italian
federation Of Therapeutic Communities, held in Italy. That was the
first blow that I got.

The total population of drug addicts around the world is almost 10
times the population of Uganda alone.

I was at this conference (24-26 June 2003) to represent Africa, and my
speech began with the dilemma that any researcher, like myself, was
faced with: There are no reliable or adequate statistics to show the
real picture of the addiction problem in Africa.

Clinical studies by Dr. Fred Kigozi in 1991 indicate that 25% of
admissions at Butabiika national referral hospital are a result of
alcohol and drug addiction.

Studies done by the alcohol and drug addiction clinic, run by Dr David
Basangwa, reveal that 85% of the patients they receive are men, and
15% women in the age ranges of 21-30.

A study done by Dr Bassangwa on secondary schools in 1994 revealed
that 64% of secondary schools have an alcohol addiction problem, while
9% have a drug addiction problem.

Studies done by Uganda Youth Development Link in 1992 revealed that
90% of street children, and the homeless youth, are addicted to
alcohol and drugs. Studies done at the Mulago Hospital Psychiatric
Liaison Service, by Dr. Ssegane Musisi in 1998, indicated that 7% of
their referrals were alcohol and drug related.

The most affected regions, according to a study done by Dr Ssegane and
Dr. Walugembe, in 2002, are the war-torn regions of Northern and
Eastern Uganda.

In 1998, while working on addicts in the Sudanese refugee camps in
Adjumani, the team of psychiatric nurses with whom I worked, revealed
that 40 people die of suicide, in northern Uganda, as a direct result
of alcoholism, every month.

The worst affected countries in Africa, by drug addiction, and the
drug trade, according to UNODCP studies, are: Cote d'lvoire, Ghana,
Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa.

According to the South African Institute of International Affairs,
there are an estimated 500,000 cocaine users in the country, and one
third of these are teenagers.

The Institute says there are up to 300 international crime syndicates,
involved in drug trafficking in the country.

In Nigerian syndicates are said to control an estimated 50% of the
entire illegal heroine in the world, according to B.B.C.

The Geopolitical Drugs Watch noted that "Nigerian networks are active
all over the world and they have grabbed a respectable share of the
cocaine and heroin business."

Africa's main problem seems to be that not only don't we know how
serious our addiction problem is, but we have weak laws, and our law
enforcers are addicted to, or trade in, the illegal substances we seek
to ban.

The former Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kisembo, once said
that the highest abusers of drugs and alcohol in the country are the
police and the military. Major Gen. Katumba Wamala, the IGP, expressed
similar concerns early this year, and is desperate to get his police
officers sober.

Kenya seems to have taken to using an iron fist in solving this
problem.

In 1993, penalties for drug trafficking were increased to life
imprisonment as well as fines of up to $16,700. 70% of the world's
HIV/AIDS population is in Africa. Over 25 million Africans have AIDS.

Studies by WHO reveal that 4% of registered HIV cases in North Africa
are due to intravenous drug use, and individual African countries are
reporting higher figures.

In Mauritius, for example, 21% of HIV infected people got AIDS as a
result of IDU.

In Nigeria, a study done in 2000 showed that Heroin and Cocaine users
were twice as likely as non-users to get HIV.

Africa is likely to have a more serious problem than USA
(approximately 300 tones of cocaine enter USA every year, according to
UNDCP.

The US Drug trade is estimated to be worth $75b and $100b a year, if
this problem is not checked in time.

The Italian Federation Of Therapeutic communities (IFTC), upon the
conclusion of the conference, took the plight of Africa into serious
consideration.

The field of addiction therapy in Uganda is only two years old. We
have only two residential treatment centres for addicts, each charging
sh40,000 a day, for nine months treatment, and there are an average of
10 skilled addiction therapists, most of these without high quality
professional training from recognised institutions.

With only a handful of treatment centres for addicts in Africa (about
five of them only), there is an urgent need for more treatment.