EDITORIAL: Reduce alcohol consumption this festive season

AS we move full swing into the festive Christmas season, there will have to be numerous reminders put out to members of the public to be careful with their alcohol intake over the duration of this season.

Though we know Christmas time is one where persons seek to unwind and live a little, greater focus should be placed on the need to reduce alcohol consumption, given the negative outcomes that can come about when citizens imbibe too much.

We only need to explore the matter of alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic, to see that some Barbadians have a love affair with alcohol. Just recently, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), in partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, continued the fifth annual Caribbean Alcohol Reduction Day (CARD) webinar series, entitled “Alcohol and COVID-19”, to reflect on the alcohol consumption patterns over the course of the pandemic. The organisers suggested that this year’s theme was most topical and critical to examine, because of the specific harms and comorbidities related to alcohol consumption during this public health crisis. Through a roundtable format, a diverse panel of experts and advocates shared regional research on alcohol use patterns and associated risk and harms, linkages with mental health and the impact of government and industry action. Finally, policy strategies and recommendations were discussed that focused on reducing alcohol consumption and associated harms, mitigating poor mental health arising from pandemic conditions and regulating industry marketing activity.

“The interconnected nature of alcohol consumption, mental health and NCDs during the COVID-19 pandemic requires close examination, in order to best devise strategies to manage these harms and to regulate alcohol sales, promotion and consumption, as we continue into the prolonged social and economic conditions of the pandemic,” HCC officials noted then.

Now to date, the HCC and its partners have held an annual Caribbean Alcohol Reduction Day for the past four years, under the themes and titles: The Misuse of Alcohol (2016); Drink less, Reduce Cancer (2017); Youth: Let’s talk about alcohol (2018); and Women and Alcohol (2019). There has certainly been a need for such sessions. Perhaps now we need to focus on the use and abuse of alcohol at Christmas time, to see what the negative outcomes are and offer solutions to drastically reduce these negatives, whether they be an increase in accidents, poor domestic relations, poor work performance and the like. We also need to explore the use and abuse of alcohol by minors at this time of year, given that in our culture, adults often tend to think it is alright for the young ones to have a drink or two around the holiday period, on account of them becoming men and women. However, these cultural norms can hurt those who do not know their limits, even as they enter adulthood.

We are by no means saying Barbadians cannot and should not drink. Indeed, it’s a free country and they can do so, but in a responsible manner. We just want citizens to be more cautious about abusing, rather than simply using the substance, especially during this festive holiday season.