Katine: hidden habits go untackled- guardian.co.uk,
- Monday July 28 2008
"When I was offered alcohol as a young teenager, I always beat the temptation to have a drink. But one time I thought I'd give it a go. The adults that came to the shop to buy alcohol poured some into a tea cup so nobody would know what was taking place. It was beer and this was my first sip."
Willie Omongin's experience of his first drink is not unusual. Early exposure to alcohol and peer pressure to try it are common in Uganda, where drinking is often a cultural symbol of male virility. Omongin, from the Teso region where Katine sub-county lies, survived his initial brushes with alcohol, but many are not as lucky.
According to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) 2004 Global Status Report, Uganda is the world's greatest consumer of alcohol per capita, drinking twice that of neighbouring countries. In contrast to general assumptions that wealthier nations drink more, Ugandans also statistically get through twice as much alcohol as Americans. Of course, these figures don't take into account unrecorded consumption which is common and wide-spread.
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