The Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), and partners, organised a month-long national drug awareness campaign which started on May 2, ahead of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is marked on June 26 every year, to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving a world free of drug abuse.

On May 13, the national campaign was held at IPRC Kicukiro where students from schools in Kicukiro District gathered to watch artists perform in a bid to raise awareness about drug abuse and illicit trafficking in an educational manner.

Valens Buhura Ntukanyagwe, an official in the Ministry of Justice in charge of fighting drug abuse, said that the rate of drug abuse among the youth is alarming.

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"Youth are exposed to illicit trafficking. We currently have 6,460 youth in rehabilitation centers due to drug abuse. Those in courts due to drug abuse and related crimes are 4,000,” he added.

The national campaign is mean to help to encourage the youth, students in particular, to make positive choices about their health and not to abuse drugs and to remind those who are already doing drugs to seek treatment.

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Ntukanyagwe said that the campaign could expand access to quality prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services for individuals and communities affected by drug abuse, reducing barriers to care and increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes.

I am writing a book on my recovery journey

Like many youth, Sandrine Uwase, a 21-year-old from Kicukiro District, was once addicted to drugs but has recovered and is working hard to improve her life, and help other youths recover, and prosper.

She said: "My father died and my mother left me alone at home. I was living a lonely and hopeless life. I met bad friends advising me to use marijuana to get sleep and avoid stress. I was 18 years old. I immediately dropped out of school. I drastically lost weight due to mental stress until I met a psychologist and a project that saved me.

"I am currently an MTN agent earning an income. I realized that drug abuse worsens personal problems. I am also writing a 25-page book on my recovery journey. I want people struggling with drug addiction to read my story.”

Steve Shema, 21, talked about his addiction and how he struggled with it for over two years.

"I started smoking marijuana when I went to college in Uganda. The more I used drugs, the more I wanted something harder; I even started doing heroin with foil. At one point I couldn't even go to class. I only attended the first semester and a few weeks into the second semester I came back home to sober up, which was not easy," Shema said.

"I want the youth to be curious about their future and what life holds for them. I am grateful that I have a life, that I am a cineaste [a filmmaker], and that I am courageous about life."

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Francis Nuwagaba, the Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Igire Wiyubake project which is part of the campaign, said that combating drug abuse is a prerequisite given that drug abuse is one of the drivers of the spread of HIV infection and teen pregnancies among adolescent girls and young women.

"Almost 100 percent of 30,000 adolescent and young women and men we have been monitoring are between 10 and 24 years old and most of them were addicted to drug abuse. Some adolescents and young women were impregnated due to drug abuse and some are HIV positive as result of drug abuse which impeded protection. They are enticed by men and others who want to take them for human trafficking,” he said.

A study conducted in 2022 within seven districts on prevalence of drugs and substance abuse amongst adolescents in Rwanda revealed that alcohol and cannabis are the most used substances among adolescents.

Alcohol and drug abuse are associated with unprotected sexual practice.

"This fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking will help to address these issues and will make young people in particular aware of harmful use of alcohol and drugs,” Nuwagaba added.