By Davis Mugabi

The Ministry of Health has cautioned Ugandans not to take pride in being the leading alcohol consumers in Africa, saying alcohol dependence has imposed a huge burden on Uganda’s health sector.

“Uganda is among the three leading consumers of alcohol in the world; now the latest is the worst, and we have been leading in Africa. That isn’t really a trophy we are very proud of; we should be proud of these trophies of sports but not carry the trophy of high alcohol consumption,” Dr. Henry Mwebesa, Director General of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, said while appearing before a Parliamentary Committee on Tuesday.

However, he warned that “we have many cases of liver cancer, and we know the biggest cause is hepatitis B, but we also know that alcohol comes second in causing liver cancer, especially after causing liver cirrhosis, which is damage to the liver, then it progresses to liver cancer.”

Usually, he added, “It is a very difficult disease; reversing it is very difficult; so many of them are associated with death.”