2,000 Maputo youngsters with mental disorders due to excessive consumption of alcohol

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2,000 Maputo youngsters with mental disorders due to excessive consumption of alcohol

11:41 CAT | 14 Jul 2017

HealthLine (File photo)

The consumption of alcoholic beverages in the city of Maputo last year left a total of 2,014 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 with mental disorders, according to the Office of Prevention and Combat Drugs (GPCD).

Speaking during a visit to the GPCD yesterday by Maputo City Governor Iolanda Cintura, director Sara Jafete explained that the group affected includes students, mainly from secondary school .

“Students mix alcohol with soft drinks and it becomes difficult for teachers to notice that their students are consuming alcohol,” said Jafete. “These are the cases we have seen in hospital units in Maputo,” she said.

The Office has held lectures and campaigns in several schools in Maputo to combat the trend, and Jafete appealed to parents and guardians not to give their children large sums of money.

“Love for our children is not measured in money, especially large amounts. Most of the time teenagers do not know how to manage money, and end up slipping into the world of drugs,” she said.

Since the beginning of the year, 94 people have been detained for involvement in the sale and consumption of drugs, with Maputo city police commander Bernardino Rafael declaring that several drug rings have been broken up.

“The neighbourhoods of Mafalala and Chamanculo, as well as some eateries, like Matchedje, are centres of sale and consumption of drugs. We always go there because they are constantly facilitating the sale and consumption of drugs. But this is a problem that can only be addressed with the involvement of the entire population,” Commander Rafael says.

Governor Iolanda Cintura in turn expressed concern about the amount of drug use in schools in the city of Maputo. “This is a very sensitive subject. The year-on-year growth of the problem worries us greatly, but I hope to identify solutions to overcome the problem,” she said.

Source: AIM Moçambique