Researchers and public health advocates have called for urgent reforms in Uganda’s alcohol control policies following the release of findings showing weak enforcement, increasing alcohol consumption, and rising health risks linked to harmful drinking.
The calls were made during the validation of the Uganda Alcohol Status Report (ASR) 2026 held at Fairway Hotel on Friday.
The report highlights significant gaps in alcohol regulation across Uganda, revealing that only 14.6% of districts have operational alcohol control ordinances despite rising levels of alcohol-related harm.
Francis Nsanga, an independent researcher who worked on the report, said the six-month study found increasing alcohol consumption trends across several regions of Uganda.
“We have found out that the trends have just increased from the previous years. There are many young people involved in drinking and men are affected the most when it comes to drinking and related harm,” Nsanga said.
According to the report, Karamoja emerged among the leading regions in alcohol consumption, with prevalence rates exceeding 50% among both men and women. Other highly affected regions include Busoga, Teso, Lango, Bugisu and Kigezi.
Nsanga said the findings should push policymakers to strengthen interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm.
“We are asking ourselves how we can help policymakers to have an environment that enables the reduction of alcohol harm that we are experiencing in this country,” he said.
He noted that the report found almost a quarter of Ugandan men consume alcohol daily.
“That means 25 people out of every 100 are drinking alcohol on a daily basis,” he said.
The report also established strong links between alcohol use and HIV transmission, particularly in fishing communities where the Population Attributable Fraction for HIV incidence linked to alcohol stood at 17.5%.
Researchers further identified alcohol use during pregnancy as a major public health concern that remains largely unaddressed.
Richard Baguma, chairperson of the Executive Board of the Uganda Alcohol Alliance, said obtaining scientific data was a critical first step in designing interventions.
“Many people do not realise that getting scientific and well-researched statistics and data is the beginning of all interventions because interventions are informed by scientific data,” he said.
He warned that Uganda’s current lack of comprehensive alcohol laws leaves communities exposed to increasing harm.
“What we do not know now really is the impact on the economic levels of individuals, homesteads, societies and therefore the country,” he said.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics National Panel Survey 2022 cited in the report showed that Ugandans spent 1.3% of household income on alcohol, more than what was spent on non-alcoholic drinks, tobacco, insurance and financial services.
The report further noted that Uganda’s alcohol per capita consumption among drinkers aged 15 years and above remains among the highest globally, standing at 38.1 litres for males, 14.4 litres for females and 28.5 litres overall in 2019.
Prudence Arurinde, secretary general of the Uganda Alcohol Policy Alliance, called for stronger collaboration among ministries and stakeholders to address the growing challenge.
“We need different ministries and players to come together and ensure that we have regulation at national level,” she said.
She also emphasised the dangers posed by unregulated and locally brewed alcohol.
The report identified major evidence gaps, including limited studies evaluating alcohol control policies, lack of surveillance data on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and inadequate economic analyses on the societal cost of alcohol abuse.
Researchers acknowledged methodological limitations, including reliance on self-reported alcohol use data and inconsistent use of validated screening tools.
Despite the challenges, the report noted that Uganda had registered a 26.7% reduction in alcohol-attributable deaths between 2010 and 2019, demonstrating that progress is possible with sustained political commitment.
The report recommends scaling up WHO-recommended “best buy” interventions, enforcing comprehensive advertising restrictions, introducing minimum alcohol pricing, and integrating alcohol screening and brief interventions into HIV and TB programmes.
It also calls for the establishment of a national alcohol surveillance system embedded within the Health Management Information System (HMIS), alongside expanded research using objective biomarkers such as phosphatidylethanol (PEth).