Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd (GGBL) in collaboration with the department of Psychiatry of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) and the Institute of African Studies (IAS) of the University of Ghana on Saturday March 14, 2015 launched this year’s 'What’s Your DRINKiQ', an alcohol education programme targeted at second year students of the university.

The programme which will run over two weekends will directly impact 2,000 second year students of the University who are taking courses with the Institute of African Studies.

What’s Your DRINKiQ is an interactive course on responsible alcohol use, designed to educate and provide factual information on the effect of alcohol to enable young adults make informed choices with regards to alcohol use.

Launching the programme, Preba Greenstreet, Corporate Relations Director, GGBL said "we are into the third year of this partnership with the Institute of African Studies and the University of Ghana Medical School to educate and empower students of this university to make informed choices in relation to alcohol use. We are truly passionate about this programme and the opportunity it presents to engage with young adults who without the requisite knowledge of its effect, may inadvertently abuse alcohol. This partnership allows us to prevent abuse through knowledge sharing and a targeted intervention. We look forward to strengthening this partnership to a point where this programme may be embedded into the curricula of the university”.

On her part, Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Director of the Institute of African Studies said "backed by research results over the past two years, we have seen tremendous improvement in the knowledge base of our students with regards to the effect of alcohol. What’s Your DrinkiQ is truly a remarkable intervention that connects with our students in a unique way providing them with the knowledge they need and the opportunity to be heard.

"I have always maintained that this is a timely intervention that every young adult should engage with”.

Commenting on the programme Professor Angela Ofori-Atta, a Clinician and Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Ghana Medical School said “we have been involved in co-creating and running What’s Your DrinkiQ with GGBL over the past three years and have seen at first hand the impact this has made on participants. Our motivation with this programme has always been to provide young adults with the right knowledge and tools to prevent alcohol abuse.

The programme demystifies the subject of alcohol covering areas such as how the body processes alcohol, the short and long term effects of alcohol abuse and what constitutes the responsible use of alcohol. It is our expectation that this programme will continue to contribute to reducing alcohol abuse among young adults”.

What’s Your DRINKiQ, sponsored by GGBL, is delivered by clinical psychologists from the University of Ghana Medical School.  Since its inception in 2012, more than 4,000 students of the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology have successfully gone through the programme.