Sodabi abuse: young people's health at risk

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Extract from the article: In communities, alcohol is present to celebrate a birth, to welcome a visitor, or to celebrate a wedding. But more and more, people are consuming it outside of cultural celebrations or family events. Today, the consumption of this product has...

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In communities, alcohol is present to celebrate a birth, to welcome a visitor, or to celebrate a wedding. But more and more, people are consuming it outside of cultural celebrations or family events. Today, the consumption of this product has become a fashion for the young and adult population. This is a worrying phenomenon with harmful consequences for health.

According to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), alcohol abuse led to more than three million deaths in 2016, i.e. one in 20 deaths. More than three quarters of these deaths were among men worldwide. In Togo, a study carried out in the greater Lomé area and its surroundings, made public in 2020 by the NGO Recherche Action Prévention Accompagnement des Addiction (RAPAA), revealed that 67.20% of young people over 29 years of age are increasingly consuming alcohol. The study specifies that 77.5% of men consume Sodabi and its derivatives against 22.5% of women. There is an upsurge of cabarets all over the city of Lomé where young people visit all day long. Alcohol consumption by men is perceived as a sign of virility and social conformity.

Sodabi, the preserve of the young

In Sagbado, a "sodabi" vendor, who runs a cabaret, confided that "many young people, even in their twenties, come here to buy. In the morning, already at 4am, people are waiting to knock on the door. So I got into the habit of waking up early in the morning to serve these people. All categories of people come to buy either "sodabi", "alomo", or "vody".  Thus, in certain underprivileged areas where poverty has taken up residence and unemployment has reached worrying proportions, alcohol sellers are rubbing their hands. "Our customers are increasingly young people. In the morning as well as in the evening, they come to take either bottles of beer or a few glasses of sodabi," says a bar owner and sodabi seller.

Every evening, at around 6pm, one can see in the canton of Yokoè, not far from the chiefdom, a gathering of young people in a cabaret. The atmosphere is festive, and one can see young people with glasses of sodabi or bags of whisky in their hands. Moreover, it is not only men who visit these cabarets. There are also women, most of whom are housewives between 25 and 55 years old.

What drives young people to drink too much Sodabi

Economic and financial problems, family stress and conflicts, precariousness and lack of future prospects as well as the weakening of social control explain, according to those interviewed, the increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages. According to the socio-cultural and linguistic study on local alcoholic beverages (Sodabi) financed by BOAD and conducted by the NGO RAPAA in November 2020, these changes in behaviour particularly affect women and young people. With regard to young people, the respondents cited the slackening of the educational function and social control, the resignation of families, the specific employment problems faced by young people and the lack of hope for the future. The younger generations seem to be more attracted to imported drinks and to the places where these drinks are consumed, such as nightclubs, dance halls and bars. However, its very affordable cost explains the high consumption of Sodabi by young people, especially the unemployed, students, schoolchildren and apprentices who have little financial means.

Alcohol as a solution to problems?

Young people find pleasure, energy and solutions to problems in alcohol. Young people have also found in alcohol "an almost perfect companion" to forget their social distress. For these young people, getting drunk is a way of forgetting their daily lives, which are limited, for most of them, to a baccalaureate and even more so, to odd jobs at the big market in Lomé, such as driving a motorbike or a rickshaw. Alcohol is their "worry factor". "I come here every evening to have two or three glasses of sodabi. This allows me to eat well when I get home. In addition, I come here because it is one of the times when I discuss with friends on various subjects, including politics and our household problems. Here, there is no trouble at all," said Yves, a 33-year-old mechanic.  As for Yohannes, 35, a cook in a local restaurant, "I go to the cabaret almost every morning and evening to have a drink. I simply love sodabi. And it allows me to be at my best at work. Here, we form a big family around these drinks". 

It is also noticeable that some people drink sodabi when they are ill. They use it to treat many illnesses, including.

They use it to treat many illnesses, including malaria, constipation, anorexia, painful periods, wounds, stomach aches, earaches, haemorrhoids, headaches, hip aches, infections, but also nervousness and sexual weakness. "Personally, when I don't consume sodabi, I feel very tired. And also, I feel my hands shaking. Right now, if I just have a drink, it calms down. So for me sodabi is an anti-fatigue source. Sometimes I take just two glasses and peanuts 100frs in the morning, then I eat in the evening," said Beau-gars, a 40-year-old painter.

Adverse health effects

People have the impression that the only harm linked to alcohol is to develop alcoholism. But alcohol is responsible for a series of chronic diseases, the WHO has identified 40, caused by alcohol. Every drink increases the risk.  Many diseases occur after prolonged alcoholism. These include stomach diseases, seven types of cancer including breast, oesophageal and colon cancer, liver disease and cardiovascular disease. Signs of alcohol abuse are: premature ageing, redness of the lips, eyes, swelling of the face, change of complexion, body changes.

Raymond Dzakpata