Alcohol is the most abused substance in Kenya with about 3.2 million people using it, new survey shows.
The National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse report says most of those drinking alcohol are heading to problematic use. The number of alcohol abusers represents 12 per cent of Kenyans who abuse various drugs and substances.
Miraa follows alcohol with 1.1 million abusers.
Bhang is third with 269, 959 Kenyans abusing the drug. The survey shows 4,913,254 Kenyans have abused at least one drug or substance in their life.
Overall, prevalence of alcohol has reduced despite the existence of a huge consumer market.
“Prevalence of alcohol use disorders among respondents aged between 15 and 65 stands at 10.4 per cent. This translates to a high demand for treatment and rehabilitation services,” senior Nacada monitoring and evaluation officer Franklin Mwirichia said.
Michira spoke when he released the survey results during an International Society of Substance Use Professionals meeting in Nairobi yesterday.
“Current prevalence among respondents aged between 15 and 65 stands at 4.1 per cent. The trend shows a slight decline from 4.2 per cent in 2012. The prevalence is however lower compared to 5.5 per cent in 2007,” Mwirichia said.
Prevalence of miraa use disorders among respondents aged between 15 and 65 years stands at 3.1 per cent. It’s the highest among the youth.
Lifetime usage of bhang stood at 4.5 per cent as of last year. The trend shows a decline from 6.5 per cent in 2007 and 5.4 per cent in 2012.
The survey shows the trend has stabilised at one per cent from 2007, 2012 and 2017.
The prevalence of bhang use disorders stands at 0.7 per cent. The report says 0.4 per cent of the respondents used cocaine at least once.
“The trend shows a decline from 0.6 per cent in 2012. Data also shows that the lifetime prevalence of heroin stands at 0.3 per cent in 2017, a decline from 0.7 per cent in 2012,” the report says.
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The data shows a decline in terms of current usage of at least one substance of abuse.
It has declined from 19.8 per cent in 2012 to 18.2 per cent in 2017. The prevalence was at 22.2 per cent in 2007.
“From the findings, it is evident that the trend of alcohol and drug abuse nationally is on a slow downward shift,” the report says.
The burden of substance use disorders is increasing despite the decline in use, the report shows. “Alcohol use has the highest burden of substance use disorders,” it says.
Heroin and cocaine users are categorised as hidden populations. Their membership is based on a criminalised behavior which only exist in privacy concerns hence the need for a more targeted survey to study them.
The survey was conducted in 2017 and sampled 3,362 households targeting respondents aged between 10 and 65.
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