Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, has urged Rwandans to prioritise things that help them progress rather than allowing alcohol to dominate their lives, stressing that young people need good health, clear minds and ambitions that drive national development.
He made the remarks on October 21, 2026, during the Youth Meet the President dialogue, which brought together about 10,000 young people and President Paul Kagame to discuss challenges facing the youth.
Addressing the gathering, Nsanzimana said alcohol and drugs were among the factors holding young people back from achieving their ambitions. He called for a change in attitudes towards alcohol, arguing that it had been given undue importance in Rwandan society.
“Alcohol has been given an undeserved place in our culture and in Rwandan families. We must take away that status and give importance to what truly deserves it,” he said.
The minister explained that alcohol affects brain function and can lead people to make poor decisions, behave in ways they normally would not and damage their relationships with others.
“Decisions you would make when sober change. Someone who would not normally raise their voice starts shouting; someone who never fights begins fighting, even beating their parents, while a wife may beat her husband. Let us stop glorifying alcohol. Whether someone drinks in the countryside or in the city, we must strip alcohol of the status we have given it,” he said.
Nsanzimana urged young people to have dreams, turn those dreams into goals and translate their goals into practical plans. Without these three elements, he said, it becomes difficult for people to achieve what they want in life.
“We were all young once, and we had dreams. Those dreams became goals, and those goals were turned into plans. If you lack these three things, you simply dream, go to sleep and wake up the next morning without making progress,” he said.
He emphasised that young people needed to maintain good health, think clearly and adopt behaviours that would help them achieve their ambitions if they were to contribute meaningfully to national development.
“When your mind and body are in good condition, you can make progress. The country belongs to all of us; it is not just the leaders. Having a healthy body means being able to contribute to the country, while damaging your body means harming the country,” he said.
The minister added that avoiding alcohol and drugs was one way young people could protect their health and pursue their ambitions. He called on Rwandans to work together to change attitudes towards alcohol consumption.
His message urged young people and the wider population to choose healthy, drug-free lives so they could build the country with clear goals, the capacity to achieve them and the well-being needed to contribute to national development.
