A survey conducted by Rwanda Non-Communicable Disease Alliance in partnership with the Ministry of Health in 2023, has indicated that 29.3 per cent of adult Rwandans reported exposure to tobacco smoke in their home while 13 per cent reported exposure at work.

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The survey aimed to show the prevalence of the alcohol and tobacco risk factors or causes of non-communicable diseases in Rwanda.

Participants aged 18 and above were selected randomly through random digit-dialing methods and were invited to complete the survey using a short message service (SMS, text messaging).

Over 7,000 mobile phone subscribers from different districts participated as a cost-saving technique to conduct the survey. Most were aged between 18 and 29, according to researchers.

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The survey followed a trial by the Rwanda Ministry of Health and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre in 2022 which achieved a significant milestone by successfully conducting the first mobile phone survey to assess the prevalence of selected Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) risk factors in the country.

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This ground-breaking initiative demonstrated the feasibility of utilising innovative methods for research purposes, yielding valuable results that could be compared with those obtained from traditional STEPS surveys.

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"Building on this success, in 2023 we embarked on a similar endeavour, focusing specifically on studying alcohol and tobacco risk factors, along with associated attitudes and behaviours. The primary objective of this second survey was to gather nationally representative estimates of indicators related to alcohol and tobacco use, as well as attitudes towards their consumption,” said Alphonse Mbarushimana, executive director at Rwanda Non-Communicable Disease Alliance.

Approximately 5.6 per cent of Rwandan adults reported being current tobacco users with 3.7 per cent reporting current tobacco smoking and 2.2 per cent reporting current smokeless tobacco use.

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Men were more likely to report any type of tobacco use than women.

Very few adult Rwandans reported ever using e-cigarettes (4.5 per cent).

"Overall, 29.3 per cent of adult Rwandans reported exposure to tobacco smoke in their home while 13 per cent reported exposure at work,” notes the report.

Alcohol consumption

Two in five people or 41.9 per cent of respondents reported alcohol consumption in the past year, and 12.5 per cent reported daily use, the survey findings indicate.

Approximately one in three adult Rwandans reported consuming alcohol in the past 30 days (30.8 per cent).

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"Less than 6 per cent of adult Rwandans reported drinking six or more drinks on one occasion, and drinking with friends or family as well as a celebration or party were the primary reasons for consuming multiple drinks at one time,” the report says.

However, fewer than one in 10 adult Rwandans sought treatment for alcohol in the past 12 months with women slightly more likely to seek treatment than men, while nine out of 10 adult Rwandans thought regular use of alcohol is somewhat to very harmful with only 6 per cent reporting that it is not harmful.

It indicates that more than half of adult Rwandans reported that an increase in the price of alcohol would make them buy alcohol less often. Approximately 84 per cent had seen or heard information on the dangers of alcohol with radio (36.9 per cent) and television (27.3 per cent) being the most common sources of that information.

"Men were more likely than women to report that alcohol was not harmful, buy alcohol for themselves or others in the household, be asked to show proof of age for alcohol purchases, and to have seen ads promoting alcohol in the past 30 days,” highlights the survey report.

Mbarushimana said alcohol and tobacco and their associated risk factors have profound consequences on individuals and Rwandan society at large.

"Finally it will boost the ongoing ‘TunyweLess’ campaign in an effort to reduce alcohol consumption in the country. Findings from this survey help provide a national baseline on two modifiable NCD risk factors for Rwandan adults aged 18 years and older. Results will inform the Ministry of Health in Rwanda as they improve and enhance alcohol and tobacco prevention and control efforts,” Mbarushimana said.