Uganda has the highest alcohol consumption in East Africa and one of the highest overall in Africa (WHO statistics). Annually, the average Ugandan consumes 23.7 liters of pure alcohol, with almost 90% of this being unregulated alcohol that is illegally sold, such as home-brewed Waragi.
Excessive drinking has been cited to be causing a wide range of social issues in Uganda, such as domestic violence or families suffering economic hardship because one of the parents is spending too much money on alcohol. With now 8 partner radio stations across the country in our Set The Agenda campaign , we set out to ask Ugandans what they thought are the different ways to reduce alcohol consumption .
The poll question received over 4000 respondents and the results were as follows;
29% - Make alcohol more expensive through taxes
27% - Strict regulations on the sale of alcohol
20% - Arresting people who get drunk before the evening
14% - Launching awareness campaigns about the problems caused by alcoholism
10%- Providing help and support to people to quit drinking
Together with local media partners, Trac FM identifies and formulates questions regarding public services, the survey questions are later broadcasted on radio and people send in SMS participating in the poll questions free of charge, incoming SMS reports are visualized in smart graphic designs and relayed within seconds for radio presenters to update listeners on survey results
How can we reduce alcohol consumption in Uganda?
Annually, the average Ugandan consumes 23.7 liters of pure alcohol, with almost 90% of this being unregulated alcohol that is illegally sold, such as home-brewed Waragi.
