Members of Unity Club, an organisation that brings together current and former members of cabinet and their spouses, have requested that the age for alcohol consumption be increased to 21 from the current 18 years. The request, which for it to be able to be actualized has to be initiated and processed through parliament, was motivated by the growing number of mental cases especially among the young population. According to a report that was recently released by the country’s leading neuro-psychiatric hospital, over 96,000 mental health cases registered in 2021-22 fiscal year, 70 per cent of these were youths linked to abuse of different psychotics including alcohol. The mental health problem, which has been on the increase year-on-year and more prevalent among the youth, is a real threat to national life and we shall need unconventional means to counter it. This is compounded by findings by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) which in 2018 listed Rwanda as the second highest alcohol consumer per capita in the region. It therefore calls for robust measures to tame the vice. Besides the issue of mental health, there is no doubt that a significant percentage of our youthful generation loses considerable productive time indulging in alcohol. The suggestion by Unity Club is not entirely unfounded. Countries like the United States have their official age of alcohol consumption capped at 21 while Japan it is currently at 20 among others. However, increasing the drinking age alone will not end the vice in our youth. It will require a multi-pronged approach, including mobilising communities around the issue. It will also require continued effort to invest in mental health, especially building the necessary technical and institutional capacities to allow us have more healthcare providers in this area and more facilities that offer mental health services.
