Let’s control khat, before it is controlling us!

Khat has become a silent health crisis in Ethiopia. EPHI’s Rapid Evidence Review, “Effect of khat on health and society” (Feb 2021), shows that regular chewing consistently raises blood pressure and heart rate, both established risk factors for heart disease and stroke. The same review links khat use to oral disease, possible cancer risk, metabolic problems, undernutrition, and neuro‑behavioral impairments such as reduced memory, attention, and decision‑making.​

Beyond the body, research summarized by EPHI documents serious social and economic harms. Khat sessions drain household income, reduce work and school productivity, and contribute to family conflict and community instability, especially where use is daily and heavy. In other words, khat is not only a private habit; it is a public health and development issue affecting the country’s future workforce and the well‑being of the next generation.​

Ethiopia already protects its people from tobacco and alcohol through Proclamation No. 1112/2019, which sets age limits, bans advertising, and creates smoke‑free public spaces. The same public‑health logic now needs to be applied to khat: a modern khat regulation law that introduces a minimum legal age, restricts outlets and public use, stops promotion, and uses health taxes to fund NCD and mental‑health services. Grounded in EPHI’s evidence, such a law would not attack culture; it would protect hearts, minds, and livelihoods.​

This campaign by Meqoamia Community Development Organization (MCDO), led by Elias Kalayu, calls on policymakers, health professionals, community and faith leaders, and young people to stand together for khat regulation in Ethiopia. With the evidence now clear, the real question is no longer whether khat should be regulated, but how quickly Ethiopia can act to ensure that khat does not control our health, our families, and our future.​