Alcohol abuse is a ‘disease’ — doctor By Neil Brian Joseph
KOTA KINABALU: As alcohol consumption is expected to increase drastically during the Kaamatan month, Sabahans are advised to be mindful of the dangers of excessive drinking.
In this regard, the state chapter of MERCY Malaysia has opted to conduct a series of activities to raise awareness on the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption.
Datuk Dr Jaswant Singh, who is the chairperson for the Intervention Group For Alcoholic Misuse committee (IGAM), a committee formed by MERCY, spoke to the media to elaborate more on this concerning issue.
“Alcohol abuse is a disease. These people (alcoholics) are powerless. They cannot stop drinking,” Jaswant told reporters when met at MERCY’s kick-off seminar at the Penampang library on Saturday.
Jaswant said that MERCY (together with the State Health Department), chose to conduct the seminar on May as the whole month is going to be packed with festivities.
“The unfortunate problem with our society is that in any social event, we would always associate it with alcohol. (This can) also be seen in sad events … so it (alcohol) is used in both sadness and happiness,” said Jaswant, who is also an oncologist at KPJ Medical Centre.
He even quipped that certain people judge wedding ceremonies based on the amount of alcohol served rather than the quality of the food served.
Jaswant has been running an Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) programme since the past eight years here in Kota Kinabalu.
AA is an internationally known program that is aimed at helping alcoholics overcoming their addiction. It is conducted in more than 138 countries and it has around six million members worldwide.
He runs the programme every Tuesday at his house and around 20 people would usually attend. They are comprised of professionals, females and even 21-year-olds.
Jaswant himself was a former alcoholic who had to go for rehab. He has not touched alcoholic drinks since 1992.
“For the last seven years, people (in Sabah) are starting to get more serious (on the dangers of alcohol). In every house, there could be one alcoholic. So it can become a family and social problem…people are starting to realise that we should do something about it,” Jaswant revealed.
He disclosed that some alcoholics would stop attending the AA programmes after six months as they thought that they are ready to go back to ‘social drinking’. This is not always the case as most of them would gradually go back to heavy drinking.
“Social drinking is okay. If you go to a wedding and you have one glass of beer, that would be okay…but the people who are alcoholics cannot stop. They must drink non-stop,” he added.
One of the key activities of MERCY’s workshop will focus on reducing alcohol-related harm for 35 participants from three villages in the district of Penampang and local NGOs.
Apart from creating awareness of alcohol harm to the local community, the workshop will also aim to develop and subsequently form a community-based alcohol intervention group.