A recent report by the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey has revealed that the use of alcohol is prevalent among youth between the ages of 15-34 years in Ghana.
Volta region has the highest male prevalence rate with 42.5% while the Upper West region has the highest female prevalence rate of 37%.
Advocates attribute this to the little control over the promotion, competition, and popularity of alcoholic beverages.
There have been calls for an imposition of taxes on alcoholic products to discourage consumption.
Ghana is currently reviewing its alcohol policy, the Public Health Act, Act 851 to ensure proper legislation
A combined study by the University of Allied Health Sciences and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) also proved that 66.67 % of females in the Volta Region are excessively consuming the local alcoholic beverage, ‘akpeteshie’.
The study observed high ‘akpeteshie’ consumption levels among males but increased alcohol abuse among females beyond the recommended limits of 1–2 drinks per day.
Heavy drinking or binge drinking is unquestionably bad for the cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of cardiovascular mortality, coronary and peripheral artery disease, heart failure, stroke, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and ischemic heart diseases, especially for women and sometimes pregnant women as suggested by literature seen in this study.
Other substances mostly abused by the youth in Ghana are cigarettes, cannabis, and heroin.
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