NATIONAL NEWS - “The average age of individuals starting to experiment with substances in South Africa is 12 years, and this age is decreasing,” warned Adrie Vermeulen, the national co-ordinator of the South African Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, (SANCA).

Many are also unaware of the difficulties faced by substance users when first entering treatment and the long-term fight they will face after the initial treatment.

“The annual SANCA Kick Your Habit campaign aims to show how difficult it is to ‘just stop’ a habit and make people think about how much more difficult it is to break that habit once it has become an addiction,” explained Vermeulen.

The campaign is timed to support the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The theme was ‘Share Facts On Drugs, Save Lives.’

SANCA encourages everyone in South Africa to kick just one of their habits for just a week, and to share their experience on social media. Click here to join the campaign.

Whether this habit is caffeine, tobacco, chocolate, or even shopping, is entirely up to the individual’s discretion.

To ensure that the complex issue of addition prevention and treatment receives the appropriate consideration from policy makers, regulators, healthcare and other relevant professionals, SANCA will be hosting the Addiction Conference 2021 from July 21 to 23.

This inaugural platform will kickstart the biggest co-ordinated effort in Africa to create effective and long-lasting solutions to address the public health crisis of addiction.

For more information, visit www.addiction.org.za. Minister of social development, Lindiwe Zulu has confirmed her participation as keynote speaker at the conference.