Health ministry launches drug-use survey in Jamaica

The Ministry of Health and Wellness and the National Council on Drug Abuse on Wednesday launched the 2023 National Drug Prevalence Study to investigate psychoactive substance use across Jamaica.

Funded by the National Health Fund (NHF), to the tune of 7.5 million dollars, the national household survey will generate data with a focus on alcohol misuse among the population.

The health ministry says the findings will inform a national alcohol policy as well as the development of evidence-based prevention, treatment and harm reduction programmes.

The launch of the drug prevalence study follows a Rapid Situation Assessment on Substance Use in Secondary Schools.

Conducted in May 2022, the assessment disclosed, among other things, that the party drug 'molly' was among the emergent substances in demand by secondary school students. Common use of alcohol, including during school hours, was also noted.

The ministry says while the household survey will take into consideration all psychoactive substances in use by the populace, emphasis will be placed on alcohol misuse.

“Globally, alcohol consumption contributes to three million deaths annually and to the disabilities and poor health of millions of people. At the local level, the 2016 National Drug Prevalence Survey found that 15 per cent of the Jamaican population (aged 12-65 years) was at a medium to high risk for alcohol dependence,” the Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told the launch.

The health ministry says the national alcohol policy is expected to result in a 10 per cent reduction of the harmful use of alcohol; an overall reduction of premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases by one third; and strengthened programmes to address the harmful use of alcohol.

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