Alcohol and drug abuse is one of the biggest challenges facing the youth in Uganda today. The majority of patients admitted to Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital in Kampala are university and high school students suffering from alcohol and drug abuse and the number is increasing every day.  Statistics show that more than half of people who have drug related problems also have a mental health problem, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).

Reports from Kampala Metropolitan Police and Prisons indicate that many teenagers arrested over crime are mainly driven by drugs. Recent statistics show that every month, police in Kampala records more than 1000 cases of drug-related offences, particularly involving teenagers and youth aged between 13 and 24 years.

This is a trend that is worrying as it affects the country’s social and economic state. The implications for Uganda where the youth make up almost 80% of the population is even more worrying. The increasing mental health breakdown in the youth is robbing the country of economic development in the future. This worrying trend motivated one family which had its own children involved in drug/ substance abuse to register the Organisation to act as a non-profit organisation established and committed to the purpose of providing services to sustainably deal with alcohol/substance challenges and other mental illnesses, including provision of care and treatment services to individuals, families and communities suffering from addictive illnesses.

In Uganda, efforts to address the problem have been limited to a few NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and, at a small scale, by psychiatric hospitals. Services are scattered and staff ability to address this is largely lacking. Working in such a crude situation means little impact. Kids on the street think drugs improve their lives and a major risk for street youth today is a combination of drugs, HIV/AIDS and risky sexual behaviour. Alliance forming in efforts to assist people affected is lacking. There is therefore need to build partnerships and collaboration, which aims to improve the country situation and bring together multiple level of assistance  to bridge the gap of Increasing crime rates and Imprisonment among the youth due to substance use ans increasing Number of mental related disorders due to Substance use .