Seychelles ranks first in highest rate of current alcohol and marijuana use |13 July 2023
Among eight sub-Saharan African countries (SSA), Seychelles reported the highest rate of current alcohol use (46.5%) and marijuana use (6.6%) among school-going adolescents.
These alarming figures are revealed in a research paper released by Nuworza Kugbey from the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Somanya, Ghana.
The data used for the study were obtained from Global School-based Health Survey (2012-2017) of eight countries in SSA (N=16,138). In this context, "N" stands for the sample size of the study. The N value represents the total number of participants or respondents included in the study. In this case, it indicates that the data used for the study were obtained from a sample of 16,138 individuals across the eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) who participated in the Global School-based Health Survey between 2012 and 2017.
The accompanied graph shows that 1.7% of amphetamine is used by school-adolescent children in Seychelles which is not as high compared to the other countries. The highest rate of lifetime amphetamine use was reported among school-going adolescents in Ghana (5.5%) and the lowest rate of amphetamine use was reported among adolescents in Mozambique (0.7%).
The paper cites that overall substance use among adolescents is a major public health issue as its consequences transcend physical health, psychological problems and social problems to include truancy and poor academic performance due to memory problems.
The research paper concludes that tobacco and alcohol use are ‘gateway’ substances that facilitate experimentation of marijuana and methamphetamine, and addressing these through public health policies could have an impact on other drug use among adolescents. Amphetamine, a relatively less used substance, is now becoming common place among in-school adolescents in SSA and therefore requires concerted efforts to holistically address it.
It is important to note that this paper only shows research dated until 2017, and therefore the statistics may not accurately reflect the current world today as the numbers could increase or fall, especially with the huge pandemic that the country faced in 2020 that could inflate the numbers even higher.
The director of Care House Seychelles, Noella Gonthier, explained that she is not surprised of having learnt that the country is number one out of the eight countries. In the past, Care has spoken out vehemently and fought against alcohol and drugs, especially marijuana among the youth, which the paper shows was a major public health issue among adolescents.
“We know that the majority started off with the ‘gateway’ drug, marijuana,” said Mrs Gonthier.
She agreed with the report that there needs to be comprehensive public health policies beyond school-based psycho-behavioural interventions targeting the significant risk factors of substance use among school-going adolescents in SSA.
“Targeting the risk factors is crucial,” she said.
“The work that we do with schools and with parents and the data we get from Seychelles services, we see that the risk factors outweigh the protective factors.”
She explained in-depth that the country needs to work harder in identifying what are the risk factors and subsequently, try and reduce them and raise the protective factors. In one of the Care’s established programmes, they train the kids to behave wherever they are in a self-protective manner versus a risk behaviour pattern.
“Some children have no parents and we teach them how to adopt a behaviour that can protect them and not put them at risk,” she added.
Mrs Gonthier stated that NGOs such as Care lack services to be able to make a sufficient difference in society. When Seychelles continues to rise and rise in drug and alcohol substance abuse, now among the youth, they are limited in their capacity to be able to establish certain aspects of things to make a true difference.
“It is good that we are looking at our blue economy and all of that but we also need to look at our human capital, the social capital, the health capital and the spiritual capital. If one takes over the other, the other lacks the manpower. We are severely understaffed.”
The research paper emphasises that “the role of parental involvement in adolescents’ risky behaviours has been widely reported by previous studies. This is because when adolescents are monitored and given the necessary guidance in dealing with the myriad challenges associated with the period of adolescence, they are less likely to engage in substance use behaviours. Thus, the role of parents in any intervention programme aimed at addressing substance use should not be overlooked”.
Mrs Gonthier passionately agrees with this statement and wholeheartedly believes that substance abuse starts in the family unit where issues may arise.
She explained that as a country, the government has a duty to provide adequate support to families as well as other stakeholders.
Moreover, she also put forward that bullying is a huge issue in the country, which the research paper also divulges that “Multi-country studies in SSA have reported variations in risk factors for substance use such as bullying, victimisation, serious injuries, truancy and suicidal behaviours. Specifically, Seychelles has large tourist visits from western countries with liberal attitudes and practices regarding substance use including alcohol and marijuana which could influence school-going adolescents through observational learning”.
She doted on the fact that through observational learning, a lot of negative influences are instilled in the child from a young age.
In addition, the paper states that male adolescents are far more likely to involve in risky things than their female counterparts.
“Male adolescents are reported to engage in riskier behaviours than females, and late adolescents have been noted for increased risky behaviours including alcohol consumption as reported in the GBD study on adolescents which found alcohol use to rank as the third leading contributor to disease burden among late adolescent males. The experience of mental health challenges and negative socio-environmental circumstances predisposes adolescents to the use of alcohol and other substances as a coping strategy to deal with their problems,” cited the research paper.
Findings from the study showed late adolescence (15–18 years), being male, anxiety, bullying, fighting, truancy, having close friends, current cigarette smoking and tobacco use are significant risk factors for alcohol use. Several studies conducted in individual countries have found varied risk factors for alcohol consumption among in-school adolescents in Africa.
That being said, when encroached with the question about whether or not there is a class divide in the country so priorities may be different for each income class, Mrs Gonthier commented that there is certainly an effort to try and bridge that gap. It is important to note that the research paper bestows the SSA countries, including Seychelles, as low-income and middle-income countries.
“There is a lot of self-inflicted poverty, especially when it comes to addiction,” she stated. “People become poor because they are so addicted to either drugs or alcohol and they sell everything they have to curb their addiction.”
She discussed the fact that children from all walks of life in Seychelles are suffering from addiction.
“It is not only the poor families, it is also the affluent and variable families whose kids are being affected. No child is safe right now from this threat that substance abuse poses.”
One solution that Mrs Gonthier suggested as a method of government institutions, collaborations with the NGOs as a means of combatting drug and alcohol use among children is to create a National Programme whereby every unit in every ministry has a prevention programme and proper services for those who are facing difficulties, whether it may be family or younger adolescents falling into acts of delinquency.
She explained that with most prisoners in prison, it started with one minor offence. “I know a lot of them started getting into the world of criminals as a child. There was no help and sometimes the parents encouraged it so that they could gain as well.”
She noted that her point is the whole trend and pattern involving alcohol and marijuana that stems from societal issues underlying the usage of these substances from children at a young age.
One aspect that Mrs Gonthier talked about is the alcoholic culture that Seychelles seems to be drowning in that affects the youth.
“You will hear parents say that the child is turning older so they need alcohol, or recently a tuck shop in school was selling non-alcoholic beverages but with the same brand as their alcoholic counterparts such as Bavaria.”
She also cited an example of a shop which was selling popsicles imbued with alcohol and the children were flooding the shop to be able to buy it.
Seychelles NATION reached out to both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education for an interview regarding the released research paper.
The Ministry of Health stated: “We do not have enough information to give an interview on this matter. We need to read the publication and understand its sources and methodology before commenting.”
The Ministry of Education did not get back to Seychelles NATION at the time of going to press.
Sunny Esparon