Dilla University (Amharic: ዲላ ዩኒቨርስቲ) is a public university located in Dilla town, South Ethiopia Regional State. Situated in the Gedeo Zone, it serves a large student body of over 45,000 students across various faculties.
Flag of the former Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), where Dilla University is located.
Early History and Formation
The history of Dilla University traces back to 1996 when it was established as the Dilla College of Teachers’ Education and Health Sciences. The then Dilla College constituted two faculties: Faculty of Teachers Education and Faculty of Health Sciences. When Dilla College began its function as a college, it had 12 departments with total student population of less than 400 in a campus that was originally constructed for another purpose. In 2001, the College was included in the then newly emerging Debub University ("Southern" University).
Transition to a Full-Fledged University
In 2006, Dilla College underwent a significant transformation, evolving into a full-fledged university by the Council of Ministers Regulation No. 129/06. Now the University is operating in three campuses; the fourth is underway, with 6 colleges, 2 institutes and 3 schools which offer more than 47 undergraduate and 24 post-graduate /masters/ programs and 2 PhD program with student population of more than 31,000 in regular and continuing education programs. Dilla University has 62 undergraduate, 45 masters and 4 PhD degree programs.
Map showing the location of Addis Ababa in relation to Dilla.
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Location and Accessibility
The institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2018 among Dilla University students in the Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, which is found on the main road from Addis Ababa to Kenya 360 km south of Addis Ababa and 90 km south of Hawassa (capital of SNNPR). Dilla is located on the main road from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The town has a longitude and latitude of 6°24′30″N 38°18′30″E with an elevation of 1570 meters above sea level.
Dilla Town: A Historical Perspective
Dilla (Amharic: ዲላ) is a market town and separate woreda in southern Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Gedeo Zone in the former Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) now it is South Ethiopia Regional State (SER), it is located on the main road from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. Until the completion in the early 1970s of the tarmac road to the Kenya border, Dilla had been located at the southern end of the all-weather road from Addis Ababa and thus became the major transfer and marketing point for coffee grown farther south, particularly of the much-prized Yirgacheffe varietal (see coffee varietals).
Around 1930, groups of Guji Oromo migrated into the area, and by the time a German ethnological expedition arrived, they had begun the process of becoming settled farmers. By 1958 Dilla was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township.
Student Life and Health Study
Globally, alcohol is one of the most prevalent forms of substance use that is particularly high among young age groups. Despite the adverse health and social challenges associated with alcohol use, it is one of the most common risky behaviours among university students. The use of substances is one of the rising major public health and socioeconomic problems worldwide, which has dramatically increased particularly in developing countries.
An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Dilla University among undergraduate regular students from January to February 2018. All regular undergraduate students attending at Dilla University were eligible to participate. A systematic random sampling technique was used to get a total sample of 803 students each year from the department of the university. A total of 803 participants were successfully interviewed with a response rate of 91.7%.
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Alcohol use prevalence was 41.8% (n = 336) among participants. Being in fourth year (AOR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.64, 4.31), having friends who use the substance (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.1), being a khat user (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.09), and being a cigarette smoker (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.84) were found to be significantly associated with alcohol use. The current study revealed that fourth-year students, having friends who use the substance, being khat user, and being cigarette smoker had higher odds of alcohol use among the students.
The findings suggest that effective campus-based counselling and peer education should be implemented for early prevention, detection, and alleviation of alcohol use among students in the university.
Dilla university 2007 batch short vine
A view of Dilla University Campus.
Demographic Overview of Study Participants
Most of the study subjects were in the age group of 20-24 years (81.7%; n = 656), and most were male (66.9%; n = 537), single (95.0%; n = 763), and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians (58.4%; n = 469). Over half of the participants lived rurally before the university (57.2%; n = 459), and almost all lived currently in halls of residence (99.0%; n = 795). Most had attended a public high school (88.9%; n = 714).
Of the respondents, 6.4% (n = 51) reported a history of mental illness while 13.8% (n = 111) reported a family history of mental illness and 14.3% (n = 115) had a chronic physical illness.
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Prevalence of Alcohol Use
Participants who have a habit of alcohol use were 41.8% (n = 336) and with current use in the last 30 days were 24.4% (n = 196). Participants' main reasons for avoiding alcohol were for the religious and economic reasons (19.3% (n = 155) and 18.7% (n = 150), respectively).
Those who had used khat were about 1.48 times more likely to have used alcohol compared to nonkhat users (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.09).
Comparative Analysis with Other Studies
The study has tried to determine the prevalence of alcohol use among 803 students and associated factors using a cross-sectional study design and a semistructured questionnaire. The study participants were predominantly males (66.9%; n = 537), which is similar to previous studies. Of the participants, 41.8% were lifetime users of alcohol, which is comparable to other Ethiopian student surveys (40.8% in [23] and 40.2% in [24]).
Alcohol prevalence was significantly lower than a similar study done in Kenya (51.9%) and Ethiopia (50.2%). However, prevalence here was significantly higher than a similar study done in Axum University (34.5%) and Debre Markos University (33.8%) in Ethiopia. The finding was in line with a study done in Addis Ababa University among medical students (22%) (25% males vs. 14% females), which is lower compared to a study done among Rift Valley University College students (35.6%) in Ethiopia.
The main reasons for alcohol use given by participants were for pleasure and to socialize (18.7% (n = 150) and 10.7% (n = 86), respectively). Here, alcohol use prevalence increased with the seniority of the students. The fourth-year students were about 3 times more likely to have alcohol use as compared to first-year students.
Students having friends who use psychoactive substances were 1.53 times more likely to use alcohol on the campuses as compared with their counterparts. The study is in line with a study done in Axum University among students; having family members and peer friends who drink alcohol were strongly associated with alcohol use. Chewing khat was also associated with alcohol use, with chewers being 1.48 times more likely to use alcohol than nonchewers.
Similarly, a study done in Ethiopia among students showed that the use of cigarette was also significantly associated with alcohol consumption; the two tend to co-occur. However, in contrast to other studies, here sex, age, family history of substance use, and student's origin of residence were not associated with alcohol use.
Dilla University Today
Dilla University respects all the academic, administrative and technical supportive staff actively working now a days and left the University. Dilla University is one of the public universities located in the fertile coffee belt of the Gedeo Zone. Currently, more than 31,000 students take part in regular, summer, weekend, and distance programmes.
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