In Uganda, many students believe that joining the university means enjoyment of rights with limited guidance from adults. Kyambogo University enrolls at least 20,000 students per year, unfortunately, some students engage in alcohol abuse exposing them to sexual exploitation, failure/ delay to complete their courses and risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

A study by Uganda Harm Reduction Network (UHRN) found that 22 % of students abused drugs and no school was free of drug abuse, with prevalence of alcohol abuse among Universities students standing at 55 %.

With support from Astra Zeneca – Young Health Programme, NCD is implementing a one-year project working with student guild structures, student health ambassadors based at the halls / hostels of residence, training them on the dangers of alcohol abuse and its links to NCDs.

We will create short videos for online platforms to raise awareness on the dangers of alcohol abuse. NCD is providing telephone counselling services, one-on -one support whilst coordinating with counsellors, psychiatrists and health workers.

The project anticipates reaching 2,500 students with information on preventing alcohol abuse, highlighting the health risks of NCDs due to alcohol abuse.