It recently emerged that Swaziland is amongst the top 30 countries with high rates of alcohol consumption across the world. This could be easily dismissed considering that alcohol consumption, or even its abuse is not exactly a new phenomenon in the kingdom.

Swaziland ranks 29 th out of 185 countries across the world with high rates of alcohol consumption, as stated in the latest World Health Organization (WHO) Global Status Report on Alcohol. The report further states that the unrecorded alcohol consumption in the country is estimated to be 4.1 litres pure alcohol per capita for population older than 15 years.

There are no national records that reflect this trend. However, a nurse at the National Psychiatric Hospital (in Swaziland) agrees with this assessment, stating that there are many cases of Psychosis, which they attend to on a daily basis. Psychosis is a combination of alcohol and dagga abuse. "A majority of our patients drink and they admit it," he says. The nurse observes that they care for a total of 210 inpatients, of which 150 are males. He also notes that usually men drink a lot more than women, partly in trying to avoid family responsibility or to deal with stress related to marriage. "In many cases women are admitted as a result of ill-treatment by spouses who abuse alcohol, which means alcoholism is a problem in Swaziland," he says.

Dr Jonathan Dlamini of Lulama Health Clinic says alcohol sale and consumption in the country has been poorly managed yet alcoholism is widely considered as an illness. He says more often than not alcoholism is addressed at the individual level, instead of realizing the implications to the population at large.

"It has not been given prominence like other illness such as TB, AIDS and Pneumonia and yet it is almost just as serious".

Some people in Swaziland do not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the issue. We spoke to a few common patrons of local bars and they all seemed in favor of one view; "There's no problem with drinking. The issue is to know when to stop and to do it responsibly". However, drinking at the bar or alone is exactly where the problem starts for most alcoholics. (See this table for perceived major causes of death in Swaziland).

Curing alcoholism

While alcoholism is a treatable disease, a cure is yet unavailable. This means that even if an alcoholic has been sober for a long while and has regained health, he/she remains susceptible to relapse and must continue to avoid all alcoholic beverages. "Cutting down" on drinking does not work - cutting OUT alcohol is necessary for successful recovery. However, even individuals who are determined to stay sober may suffer one or several "slips" or relapses before achieving long term sobriety. Relapses are very common and do not mean that a person has failed or cannot eventually recover from alcoholism. Also bear in mind that every day that a recovering alcoholic has stayed sober prior to a relapse is extremely valuable time, both to the individual and to his/her family. If a relapse occurs, it is very important to try to stop drinking once again and to get whatever additional support is needed to abstain from drinking.

Local response

Virtually all treatment programs for alcoholism include meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which describes itself as a "worldwide fellowship of men and women who help each other to stay sober." While AA is generally recognized as an effective mutual help program for recovering alcoholics, not everyone responds to AA's style and message. Even those who are helped by AA usually find that AA works best in combination with other elements of treatment, including counselling and medical care. The local AA association started operating in January in 2007 and meets at the Mbabane Chapel every Mondays between 5:30 and 6:30pm.

In recognition of the debilitating effect of alcohol on young people, Lusweti also launched an educational booklet called 'Alcohol and You' last month. This move is considered the first towards developing a more comprehensive approach to reduce alcohol abuse in youth across Swaziland.

About the author: Sihle Dlamini Holds a Diploma in Journalism and Communications obtained from the University of Swaziland. She has experience as a news reporter for the Swazi Observer and the Nation magazine, both circulated at national level. She is a freelance reporter for Kaleidoscope Magazine and also writes Swazi related articles for Infoshoswaziland.com

© 2007 all rights reserved. This article may be republished online as is. Get more interesting Swazi articles from infoshopswaziland.com For print publication, please contact info@knotell.co.sz info@knotell.co.sz

Alcoholism is an issue in Swaziland