Drugs Use Among the Youth In Rwanda: A Public Health Concern And Family’ Challenge

Abstract

IntroductionAlthough the prevalence rate of illicit drugs among the youths in Rwanda is colorless compare to the statistics in the region, conditions are present exposing children and adolescents to drugs abuse. A token review of Rwandan newspapers and media as well as scientific paper reveals that alcohol and illicit drugs abuse among the youths is of major concern in rural and urban areas (Kanyoni, Gishoma, & Ndahindwa, 2015). Although drugs use among the youths is not new in Rwandan families and use in ceremony, the recent abuse of illicit drugs particularly cannabis among the teenager and adolescents population has become a major public policy issue and a serious public health problem. The purpose of this section is to review the relevant literature, describe the existing knowledge regarding alcohol and drugs abuse among children and youth in the Rwandan context, and evaluate the plausibility of popular assumptions regarding the correlates of drugs outcomes in Rwandan children and youth in family settings. This study assesses the relationship between ecological processes of youth outcomes in Rwanda and is organized in the following manner: The first sub-section address epidemiology of alcohol and other drugs in Rwanda; the next section addresses the incidence of drugs abuse and its impacts on individual, family and society; followed by another that focuses on the overall conceptual framework and its effectiveness in assessing adolescent outcomes in the Rwandan context. Pursuant to that, the individual, family, and community attributes of drugs outcomes are addressed, as well as two levels of the ecological environment: the proximal (near) environment and the distal (far) environment. In the proximal context, the issue of parental involvement is addressed as two separate issues: father absence and mother absence. This is due to direct or indirect effect of the 1994 genocide that left many orphans and widows, and recently with family stressors and poverty, the issue of mother absence has featured prominently in the discussions surrounding children and adolescents risk behaviors in Rwanda. Lastly section article discusses implications for policy decision making.

Dysfunctional use of the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda: a potential public health concern and family challenges (Preprint)

“…In addition, use of internet for above functions may not only be relatively inexpensive for already owning smart phone, but also because of social distancing, they are more effective than in-person or phone communication for facilitating regular contact with family and friendship networks [6]. Furthermore, dysfunction use of the Internet is typically less harmful than many other potential behaviors used to cope with stress and aversive emotions, such as alcohol and other drug use currently considered as public health and family challenges in Rwanda [9] In some children and adolescents however, long term school closure and excessive use of internet might escalate into Internet addiction. Thus, it is important to acknowledge an increasing number of adolescents using internet such as play online game excessively, which leads to adverse effects on individuals and society and affecting their brain structure [10].…”