More doctors turn to abuse of alcohol, survey shows
HEALTH & SCIENCE
Many local health workers have turned to alcohol abuse since the outbreak of Covid-19, says a survey.
According to the survey conducted by doctors at Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, the most affected are men, doctors, specialists and the unmarried.
The study involved 887 health workers from across the country.
The study overseen by Prof Lukoye Atwoli, currently on a sabbatical from Moi University, says alcohol abuse among health workers has increased dramatically compared to before the pandemic.
About half, 44 per cent or 389 of the 887 participants reported harmful alcohol use, says the preprint posted in Research Square database on April 13, 2020.
It appears when it rains in Anyango’s life, it pours. Early this year after delivering, she was evicted from her house.
“After breaking up with my husband I rented my own place. Hell broke loose when I lost my job due to the pandemic. So I was evicted. I was devastated and I wanted to kill myself,” she confesses as she looks away.
The Kenya Red Cross Society tele-counselling helpline 1199 came in handy for Anyango as she desperately reached out for help.
“I saw the help number on TV. I decided to call because I knew I had reached a breaking point and I was falling apart. All I wanted was to end my life. I just wanted to leave this world. And I was going to take my newborn with me, but the counselling worked,” she says.
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