Moderated by Mr. Cliff Abenaitwe and Mr. Richard Baguma, we and various holders of leadership positions in the western region of Uganda met for a stakeholders meeting on alcohol harm and legislation. 

The objective of this gathering was to equip Members of Parliament, religious leaders, cultural leaders and other relevant key stakeholders with recent evidence on alcohol consumption, it's related harm and effective counter measures that can help in the support of alcohol regulation in Uganda. 

A number of presentations were shared including the first on "evidence-based interventions for preventing alcohol harm" by Ms. Namukasa Juliet, Dr. Alfred Jatho presented on the "extent of alcohol harm: The untold cost of alcohol on the social-economic wellbeing of Ugandans", Professor Nazarius Mbona presented on "the alcohol burden in the western region and the cost of not regulating it", Superintendent of Police Kamusiime presented on "understanding alcohol-related crimes and enforcement", the "Status update of the National Alcohol Control Bill"  was shared by Honourable Ephraim Biraro amongst others. 

We then had a full discussion amongst all participants on the "opportunities and barriers to regulation of alcohol in Uganda and the way forward: Discussion on the attainment of an effective alcohol control bill".