Uganda: Control Alcohol Abuse to Curb HIV/ Aids Spread

4 September 2009
opinion

Perhaps one of the challenges that has bedevilled Uganda's fight against HIV/Aids is the disregard for long-term causes of the disease, such as alcoholism, idleness and the influx of pornography. For purposes of this article I am limiting myself to the role of alcohol in HIV spread.

A 1997 study by Kigozi and others concluded that there is a relationship between alcohol and HIV/Aids in Uganda. This should raise more alarm bells, given the fact that with stagnation in the country's adult HIV/Aids prevalence rates, the World Health Organisation recently ranked Uganda the leading consumer of alcohol in the world. Per capita alcohol consumption in Uganda was 19.5 litres, followed by Luxembourg at 17.54 litres.

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