In Uganda, drugs are bought from police officers in the actual station houses. In Kenya, underpaid teachers supplement their income by selling drugs, often to their students. While laws prohibit the import or sale of illegal narcotics, there is virtually no enforcement of such laws, nor is there any coordinated effort to keep illegal substances out of the country, says a Wilson Foundation statement.

Homemade liquor is one of the largest sources of income for people in poor, rural areas. It is an important part of commerce in all of East Africa. The drug problem is at its greatest in Kenya, where youth in the street smoke marijuana, sniff glue and are now being introduced to cocaine and heroin. Sniffing such solvents as paint thinner and airplane fuel are other options they employ.

According to Wilson Foundation clinicians, 85-90 per cent of those who drink can do so successfully; that is to say, they can do so without becoming addicted and without grave consequences to their lives. It is the other 10-15 per cent that is at risk. And since society does not recognise their addiction as a disease, they go through their lives without treatment.

The addiction affects the individuals themselves, and it affects their families and others around them. Conservative statistics show that addicts typically effect 60 additional lives, including family members, friends, neighbours, employers and co-workers. In effect, over 60 per cent of people in East Africa are affected by addiction. This amounts to 12-14 million addicts and 72 million co-sufferers, points out Wilson Foundation.

Aside from the obvious relation problems that occur in the life of an addict, the financial picture is also bleak. The typical income of a poor family in East Africa is the equivalent of US$ 70 a month. One beer costs a dollar, so each beer purchased equals 1.5 per cent of the family's monthly income. Three beers in a day equals 4.5 per cent of the family's monthly income. Calculated over a month, three beers per day will total more than the family's income. Use of illegal drugs will drain the family's money even more quickly.

In Kenya, poverty is rampant. Almost 80 per cent of national salaries go to 8 per cent of the population. Around 70 per cent of Nairobi exists in slum conditions. The people living in these slums begin the day by sniffing glue to quell their hunger pangs.

For some, addiction has lead to AIDS and, consequently, death. Others are killed in alcohol and other drug related accidents or illnesses or take their own lives. The lack of treatment options and the often unbearable cost of sending their people to another country for treatment frustrate bishops and religious superiors, Wilson Foundation says.

There are very few treatment options available for addicts in Uganda and Kenya. Alcoholics Anonymous is available only on a limited basis in Uganda, and marginally more in Kenya. There are few programmes that address education about addiction, and its prevention and treatment. What is worse, the need for treatment is not readily recognised by the people or by the government.

Recently, however, some programmes have swung into action. One group, known as the Raphaelites, plan to open a facility for 28 people. 40 per cent of the beds will be reserved for priests and other religious workers. Although they have an excellent facility outside of Kenya, a lack of funding leads to the many problems they face in opening their doors. But the dimensions of the problem are too gargantuan for a few groups to surmount.