Alcohol consumption is a huge public health issue

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,
I am happy to read of the comments by leading consumer advocate Mr Pat Dial in regard to the promulgation of recently enacted legislation to curb tobacco consumption in Guyana. He is right on the money, and I hope the public education process would be intensified by Government and other relevant agencies, to bring the desired effect.
However, in my view — and I am sure there are many others with my perspective — alcohol consumption is a much bigger public health issue than tobacco; it results in murders, suicides, accidents etc, which are generally not associated with tobacco consumption. I therefore call on Mr Dial and the Consumers Association, and other concerned bodies and persons, to bring pressure to bear on the Government — and indeed, all Parliamentarians — to bring urgent legislation in this year to have draconian laws enacted with a view to curbing consumption of alcohol, which has reached worse than epidemic proportion.
These measures should include, but not be limited to, maintaining early closure of night clubs and places that sell alcohol; enforcing laws in relation to who can buy alcohol; increasing taxes on alcohol to make it more costly and prohibitive for persons to buy; enforcing rigidly drink-and-drive laws; giving incentives to companies manufacturing alcoholic beverages to go into alternative endeavours; carrying out massive public education programs on dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, and including this in a meaningful way for all schools; placing warning labels on all containers/vessels that alcohol is sold in a manner similar to warnings on cigarette packs; restricting advertisements that can be placed at school events etc, and even on public television, unless the health warning is aired prominently either at the beginning or end of advertisements.
Yours sincerely
Ashok Ramnauth

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