Kenya: Every Four of 100 Deaths in Kenya Linked to Alcohol Use

Four out of every 100 people who lost their lives in Kenya in 2016 did so as a result of alcohol abuse, the most recent report on the subject says.

The report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday also shows that alcohol consumption has become alarmingly routine among minors.

Use of illicit brews commonly referred to as “changaa” or “kumi kumi” remained predictably high, at 37 per cent of all the alcohol consumed.

In Kenya, the prevalence of alcohol use disorders was at 4 per cent, that of alcohol dependence at 1.4 per cent, and that of harmful use of alcohol at 2.6 per cent of the entire population.

UNACCEPTABLY HIGH

WHO says the overall burden of disease and injuries caused by harmful use of alcohol is unacceptably high.

And it is worried that the alcohol pandemic is preventing affected populations from achieving a number of health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for maternal and child health, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases and mental health, injuries and poisonings.