Alcohol use in JAMAICA
ALCOHOL HAS, for many centuries, remained the most widely used psychoactive substance around the world. In Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, its use is widely accepted as a normal and, in some cases, an essential part of social gatherings.
It is not uncommon for reactions of surprise or disappointment to abound when people declare that they do not consume alcohol, while in the company of those who do. ‘What’s the problem? Why aren’t you drinking? Why are you spoiling the fun?’
The extent to which the probable impact of alcohol on individuals and societies is understood is questionable in our culturally accepting context. Issues such as the amount consumed and patterns of consumption have the potential to cause a significant health, social and economic burden. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that alcohol is a known causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions. It is associated with a risk of developing mental and behavioural disorders, major non-communicable diseases, and injuries resulting from violence and road accidents. Is this a potential problem for us in Jamaica?
The 2016 National Drug Prevalence Survey conducted by the NCDA among 4,623 Jamaicans age 12-65 years revealed that Jamaica, like other nations, would benefit from paying closer attention to alcohol consumption among its people. While seven out of 10 Jamaicans (12-65 years) reported that they have consumed alcohol at some point in their lifetime, four out of 10 are current users, with significantly more males than females reporting use of alcohol and using at an average earlier age (age 15 versus age 18 for females).
Binge drinking is also occurring. Binge drinking is consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a single occasion over the past two weeks for men and four or more alcoholic drinks for women over the past two weeks. One in three men in the age group 35-44years reported binge drinking, while one in seven women aged 25-34 years reported this.
The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test is an internationally standardised tool used to measure problematic alcohol use. Based on population estimates, just over 300,000 individuals were classified as harmful alcohol users. Additionally, one in every six males reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year, while one in every 17 women reported doing this. Are we seeing the potential problem?
The good thing is that most potential problems have solutions, once there is effort and commitment to addressing them. The WHO and other international agencies have continued to encourage nations to regulate the marketing of alcoholic beverages (in particular to younger people), regulate and restrict the availability of alcohol, enact appropriate drink-driving policies, raise awareness of public health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol, provide accessible and affordable treatment for people with alcoholuse disorders and implement screening and brief interventions programmes for harmful drinking in health services.
While successive administrations have attempted to address this issue through policy development, the general population largely continues to see the situation as ‘no problem’. Perhaps we would benefit from placing more emphasis there.