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Patterns, harms and responses to licit and illicit substance use in Zimbabwe: A scoping review
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Patterns, harms and responses to licit and illicit substance use in Zimbabwe: A scoping review

Blessing Marandure, Samson Mhizha, Sarah Olaluyi, Clement Nhunzvi and Amanda Wilson
Global public health, Vol.21(1), pp.1-18
16/01/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2026.2616872
PMID: 41546424
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract

drugs HIV sub-Saharan Africa Substance abuse Zimbabwe
Anecdotal reports highlight increased methamphetamine, cocaine, and codeine-coughsyrup use in Zimbabwe, with no clear empirical basis. Therefore, the scoping reviewaimed to identify primary evidence of patterns, harms and responses to substance use(SU) within Zimbabwe. Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework and the PRISMAExtension for Scoping Reviews (Tricco et al., 2018) were followed. Medline (Pub Med),Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied HealthLiterature (CINAHL Plus), African Index Medicus, Africa-Wide Information, Web ofScience, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, and Web of Science conference proceedings weresearched. 27 studies published between 2012, and February 2025 met the inclusioncriteria and were synthesized using combined inductive-deductive thematic analysis. Patterns of SU included a wide range of drugs (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, inhal-ants, codeine-cough syrups), with emergent literature on methamphetamine, cocaineand heroin. Socio-demographic patterns elucidated vulnerable groups (e.g. childrenliving on the streets), and concentration of SU in high density urban areas. SU harmspredominantly centered on the link to the HIV epidemic, whilst clinical and healthresponses to SU were significantly limited. SU should therefore be treated as a publichealth priority in Zimbabwe, and research capacity building is urgently required toaddress significant literature gaps.

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