Andrew Kathindi
According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, 44 percent of Namibian children start drinking alcohol from as early as nine years old.
This according to Deputy Program Manager for Substance Abuse Prevention, Drug Control and Rehabilition in the ministry, Geraldine Kanyinga, who raised the alarm on the state of alcohol addiction in Namibia.
“We have done a research and the findings show that 44 percent of Namibian children are already drinking from as early as nine years. So for us it is scary that alcohol has become a norm in society. We have to take shebeens out of the residential areas and perhaps the municipality can give open land where a shebeen mall can be established, that way the police can also better control them,” Kanyinga told Windhoek Observer.
She said the issue was all-inclusive and not just a health ministry’s issue, but also includes the education and trade ministries.
“The Liquor Act is not with this ministry. It’s with the Ministry of Trade and they regulate the trading hours and licensing. That’s where we have a challenge. Alcohol is all over the country, including the residential areas,” Kanyinga said.
The health ministry official said, “the affordability and availability of alcohol is what is causing a problem and if we are not careful, we will lose a younger generation.”
With numerous retrenchments happening countrywide due to the economic downturn, Kanyinga said she foresees a spike in alcohol consumption.
“Because our many of our people don’t have positive coping mechanisms, I foresee a spike in alcohol abuse. So, when there is a stressful situation, people tend to run to alcohol and drugs to forget their stress. But we need to build positive coping behavior in people. What I mean, is people need to find other positive activities for their lives. They could begin attending churches, volunteer with a charity, start doing exercises or become more spiritual. We have to build ourselves up to become stronger as one will lose even more money if it’s all spent on alcohol.”
This advice comes as the latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that Namibia is one of the top ten highest consumers of alcohol in Africa.
“We have an oversupply of alcohol in Namibia. If you look at the shebeens and how densely populated with clientele they are and where they are located, there is no sensitivity to public spaces, to schools, to churches or community halls. Alcohol is just at the next stop,” she said.
Kanyinga said the ministry currently runs a missional program called “coalition on a reduction of on harmful drinking” in 11 regions with functional committees. The coalition is educating the youth at school and work about the dangers of alcohol.
“We have a national trader’s program to train shebeen owners to have best practices. We teach them that it is against the law to sell alcohol to children and that they should not encourage alcohol use by people with chronic health problems.”
Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (SAAPA) Namibian Chapter, Sadie Tjaronda also lamented alcohol’s association with sporting events which he said plays an influencing part on children.
Tjaronda said his organization was working on alcohol policies in alignment with the liquor act to reroute the levy on alcohol towards the rehabilitation. He also said Namibia should adopt the current shorter trading hours for alcohol sales venues in stage 3 of the state of emergency beyond the end of the restrictions due to the pandemic.
