Ministry of Health wants minimum age of drinking alcohol raised to 21 years
According to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 13.2 million people ages 12 to 20 (34.2% in this age group) reported that they have had at least one drink in their lives.
The Ministry of Health has proposed to have the minimum age people are allowed to drink alcohol in Uganda, raised from 18 to 21 years arguing that at 18 years, one’s brain is still developing and thus, shouldn’t be allowed to make a life altering decision like taking alcohol.
These remarks were made by Hafsa Lukwata the Assistant Commissioner Health Services at Ministry of Health.
According to Lukwata, Uganda has already set the precedent under the Tobacco Control Act, where the legal age when someone is allowed to smoke cigarettes is 21 years.
She noted that there is a lot of science, backing the fact that at 21 years, one is still young because their brains are continuing to develop.
“They (movers of The Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill) have put the age of 18 at which people are supposed to start drinking at 18 years, we are saying this age isn’t okay, it should be 21 years and there is already science around this age and research was actually done by many scientists, and they found that if someone hasn’t taken alcohol or any abusive substance by the age of 21, there are so little chances of this person starting to take this substance,” she said.
Lukwata further stated that sports betting is at 25 years because it’s believed to change the functioning of the brain. She asked parents out there to look at their children and what they are capable of doing.
“Look at the kind of decisions they make. Such a person can’t be left to take a decision about their life. A child of 21 is a little more developed mentally, they are more organised and they are usually at campus, but an 18 year old these days, is in S.4, you can’t let a S.4 child to take a decision about their life, something that is going to affect their future,” added Lukwata.
According to the World Health Organization, Per capita alcohol consumption in Uganda is 12.21 liters of alcohol per year in Uganda, making the African country with the highest alcohol consumption.
Uganda’s statistics are particularly worrying because alcohol causes a high burden of disease and has significant social and economic consequences in the country.
According to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 13.2 million people ages 12 to 20 (34.2% in this age group) reported that they have had at least one drink in their lives.
