The solution is not to criminalise but to break the culture of alcohol

Dear Editor, There is quiet news that the Ministry of Public Health will be doing a campaign against alcohol abuse (SN, 7/10/2018). There is a video from the Chronic Disease Unit which asks people to ‘Stop. Think. Don’t Drink.’ It isn’t clear if there will be other activities and who will be involved in the campaign. It can’t be the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Health alone to deal with alcohol consumption in Guyana.

At the same time of the news, two alcohol sellers in Guyana have launched brilliant colour advertisements with young active people in them having exciting lives drinking their alcoholic products. Taxpayers cannot compete with the alcohol industry.

It seems the Government hopes that school children would not drink, and that they might drink “responsibly” when they reach 18 years or when adults invite them to drink. I don’t think many young people are blind to hypocrisy. Adults asking children not to drink while there is encouragement for young, healthy, active, beautiful adults to drink, seems to be a waste of money. Would it be more honest if the members of the National Assembly who have alcohol problems, talk about the problems they have had, or if any of them do the ‘Stop. Think. Don’t Drink.’ thing? Would the citizens who vote for them, follow their lead?

It is sad that the Government seems not to be aware that from a public health perspective, it makes no sense to talk about ‘responsible drinking’ or ‘moderate drinking’. Research published in the Lancet of 24 August, 2018 led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, have concluded that there is no real safe level of alcohol consumption from a health perspective. Guyana, which has struggled to maintain a free public health care system, will do well to understand the burden of alcohol consumption on the health system. It is a shame that Guyana has not been able to research the burden of alcohol consumption to the Guyanese drinking and non-drinking taxpayers.

The solution is not to criminalise alcohol sales and consumption. There has to be some serious breaking of the culture of alcohol. While the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Public Security hope that people will reduce (or stop?) their alcohol consumption, the Guyana Tourism Authority, on its website proudly invites tourists to “raise a drink to Guyana’s rum drinking heritage”, as though the rum drinking heritage is anything to celebrate. Indigenous Heritage Month celebrated the indigenous alcoholic drinks as part of the culture. Sports in Guyana depends on intense sponsorship from the alcohol industry.

Change is hard. Outside of Navaratri, Lent and Ramadan, when many drinkers abstain, isn’t there a chance for a longterm change to stop drinking alcohol to reduce the burden on the society? Is it so difficult to find ways of socialising and interacting and being active which are not about alcohol; to create an industry where alcohol fuels cars and other energy devices, and does not fuel destruction?

Yours faithfully, Vidyaratha Kissoon