US-Based Ghanaian reverend minister unhappy about alcoholism, substance abuse among youth

The Reverend Dr. Emmanuel Akumfi Ameyaw, a United States-based Ghanaian Reverend Minister, has expressed concern about the uncontrolled level of alcoholism and substance abuse among the youth in the country.

He has, therefore, called for active collaboration between the government, religious organizations, and society to intervene and take realistic measures to bring the alarming situation under control.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Wenchi in the Bono Region, Rev. Dr. Ameyaw stated that alcoholism and substance abuse are having devastating effects on the lives of the youth, warning that if something is not done urgently, "all our youth will turn into alcoholics and drug addicts."

The Reverend Minister, who is also the Director of the United States-based Ghanaian charity organization Hope Global Ghana, was speaking to the GNA after presenting medical supplies to the Wenchi Methodist and St. Joseph Hospitals in the Wenchi Municipality.

Each of the hospitals received boxes of medical devices and equipment valued at GH¢300,000 to improve healthcare delivery in the municipality.

"It is clear that the youth, both boys and girls, are ruining their lives with excessive alcohol intake and drug abuse and peddling.

It seems we are failing as a church, parents, government, religious bodies, and civil society in bringing up this younger generation responsibly. Society will bear the brunt if we neglect and allow them to go wayward," he stated.

Rev. Dr. Ameyaw, a native of Wenchi, indicated that alcoholism would not only impoverish the youth but also ruin their future and thereby make them societal liabilities.