The Government is considering to raise the legal age for buying and consuming alcohol from 18 years, saying that the current policy has failed to contain alcohol abuse among teenagers.
The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Soline Nyirahabimana, made the disclosure at the Youth Forum Series, recently where she said that they are considering to raise the age for alcohol drinking to between 20 and 25 years.
The decision comes after last year’s UN report indicated that Rwanda has one of the worst drinking problems in the East African region.
The minister said that drug and alcohol abuse among the youth was on the rise, calling for fresh impetus in their fight.
The change is being discussed and will be communicated to the public as soon as it is settled, the minister told The New Times.
Dynamo Ndacyayisenga is in-charge of management of alcohol and drug use disorders at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC).
He explains that to protect young people from the dangers of alcohol, it is important to think about the legal age for alcohol consumption.
He explains that a person’s brain development continues until 25 years of age. Consuming alcohol before 25 stagnates that development.
Besides that, Ndacyayisenga articulated that before the age of 20, alcohol addiction is very likely.
He disclosed that alcoholic beverages are one of the most dangerous drugs in Rwanda.
This is because they are the most consumed by the youth, the most affordable drugs and have immediate impacts.
“Raising the legal drinking age would help prevent health consequences, mortality and morbidity,” he added.
According to the 2015 survey by RBC, 1.6 per cent or 200,000 Rwandans, aged between 14-64 suffers from alcohol abuse while 7.6 per cent of the people aged under 35 are either addicted to alcohol or suffer from alcohol abuse.
In 2018, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)’s report warned Rwanda against excessive alcohol consumption, saying that the country was the second-highest alcohol consumer in the region.
