“Political commitment” and effective policies are what’s needed to tackle the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse in South Sudan.

That’s according to James Chitsva, who works with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the world’s youngest country.

With World Health Day approaching next month, he said that 3.3 million premature deaths globally each year can be attributed to alcohol abuse, but reliable statistics are not yet available for South Sudan.

Sebit William asked Mr Chitsva to sum up the threat to health posed by abusing drugs and alcohol.

Duration: 3’10”