Every second teenager in the average South African home drinks alcohol.

The starling statistic was released Tuesday by South African Breweries Limited (SAB) at the launch of a new programme to tackle underage drinking.

“Statistics indicate that one out of every two teenagers in the average South African home is a user of alcohol,” SAB Director of Corporate Affairs and Transformation, Dr Vincent Maphai, said in a release. “Underage drinking is one of the most serious forms of alcohol abuse and has an overwhelmingly negative impact on South African society as a whole. We view this as unacceptable, and so we have partnered with government on a programme that we believe will effect real change amongst South Africa’s youth.”

The programme, called You Decide, involves school visits, roadshows, curriculum-aligned lesson plans for teachers, a practical guide for parents, resources for teenagers including counselling, a website and Facebook page, a teen ambassador programme and an advanced reality game for 60 players. It will initially run in Kwazulu-Natal, the North West, Free State and Mpumalanga.

The programme will be run for a number of years, expanding its reach annually until all provinces in the country have been covered.

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