Higher Powers: Alcohol and After in Uganda’s capital city, a collaborative literary work on alcohol addiction and treatment giving the Ugandan context authored by Ugandan researchers Sarah Namirembe and George Mpanga, together with University of Virginia (UVA)’s Associate Professor China Scherz was officially launched on Friday 26^th April 2024. The event was held in the Conference Hall of the School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bioengineering at Makerere University.

The convener, Henry Nsubuga, the Manager of the Counselling and Guidance Centre at Makerere University thanked the authors of the book for conducting research and bringing to the scholarly and practice world another perspective to treating those with alcohol use disorder (AUD). 

The book, a result of over four years of dedicated research, discusses therapeutic pathways to alcohol addiction recovery in Uganda, detailing how some victims mainly in Kampala have used these methods to completely recover from the vice.

According to George Mpanga one of the authors, “most of the work took place in Uganda’s capital city Kampala; given the number and variety of options, including the country’s two major rehabilitation programmes. Kampala provided us with an excellent location for exploring a range of treatment modalities available in Uganda.”

Higher Powers mainly focuses on four recovery approaches: Biological, Social, Clinical, and religious approaches. Under the religious approach, the authors write that some addicts find healing in church while others in the traditional shrines or through herbal medicines.

Assoc. Prof. China Scherz says through collaboration, they are bringing insights from Uganda and other parts of Africa about the ethics of interdependence into a rapidly expanding conversation about the need for more collaborative forms  and logical practice. She says collaborative writing has helped them come up with a book none would solely produce.

“We are bringing insights from Uganda and elsewhere in Africa, about the ethics of interdependence into a rapidly expanding conversation about the need for more collaborative forms and logical practice. And in the process, hoping to transform a long history of important but often invisible contributions made by assistants and translators, Pan Africanist anthropology, this process of writing together across a wide range of sites has ultimately transformed the project into something that none of us could have created independently of one another,” she said.

The book was launched by Dr. Hafsa Lukwata, the Assistant Commissioner for Health Mental Health and Center of Substance Abuse at the Ministry of Health, who the  Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine.

Dr. Lukwata thanked the authors of the book and all participants who accepted to be respondents during the research. She said the government of Uganda is tirelessly pushing for the alcohol control bill to mitigate alcohol misuse, and urged everyone to be part of the cause so that the bill is passed.

Prof. Nazarius Mbona Tumwesigye, from the School of Public Health, said the book is rich with many educating stories and urged everyone to grab a copy and make good use of it.

“This work is very good and it has so many enriching stories. There are many things you can learn from this book and I wish everyone reads it,” he said.

Dr. David Basangwa, former head at Butabika Hospital Alcohol and Drug Unit said the title of the book was well selected and it contains a lot of meaning, especially in dealing with various challenges in life.

“The title given to this book: Higher Powers, I find it very interesting and well selected with a lot of meaning, especially when it comes to dealing with various challenges in life,” he said.

Basangwa noted that there is a need to deal with stigmatisation among alcohol addicts, pointing out language euphemisms as one of the best approaches. He said alcohol addicts feel more comfortable being called patients with alcoholic use disorders, but not alcohol or drug addicts.

The book launch was attended by policy makers, treatment specialists, people who have recovered from alcohol use disorder, members of Makerere University academic staff, and students.

Through an access contract with the University of California, a PDF version of the book has been availed at no cost.

To obtain a complimentary PDF copy, please click on the link provided below.

https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520396791/higher-powers.