THE NATIONAL SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION WEEK IN KENYA

NACADA together with its partners SAPTA, Blue Cross Kenya, SCAD, Marantha Restoration Homes, Project 1:11, Carlton Hall Consulting, African Institute for Children Studies, Shamiri Institute and Slum Child Foundation held the first ever prevention week in Kenya.

Why Prevention Week?

A national public education and advocacy week that allows communities, state and non-state organizations to showcase their work across the country and raise awareness on prevention of alcohol and substance use in Kenya.

The inaugural countrywide National Substance Use Prevention Week was held 19-23 February 2024 culminating into a 2-day summit held at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi. The summit had close to 500 attendees comprising prevention practitioners, students, faith based organizations representatives, community members etc. 

Themed ‘Our Families. Our Schools. Our Workplaces. Our Community: A sustainable future for Humanity’, the objectives of the initiative included:  

• To raise awareness about the importance of prevention of alcohol and substance use and misuse of prescription medicines;
• To foster partnerships and collaborations between state and non-state agencies in promoting prevention strategies;
• To celebrate people and community stories of prevention;
• To promote and disseminate evidence-based resources and publications; and
• To re-frame the narrative around Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs including non-medical use of prescription drugs.

Activities included writing and recording stories #MyPreventionStory #StoriYangu submitted by students, public sector workers and people in recovery; social media engagements #KEPreventionWeek; radio and TV engagements; community outreaches and summit. The outcome was summit pledges to be tracked over a period on ten months. This will be an annual event.