With the country’s rum attaining international renown, raising the issue of alcohol abuse is sometimes seen as taboo, according to Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) Representative to Guyana Dr William Adu-Krow, who says programmes are needed to promote responsible drinking as well as to steer people away from dependency.
“Alcohol is a major issue; I have raised it several times. Normally the response that I get is that, ‘Oh, we have our world renowned rum and therefore you cannot say too much about alcohol,’” Adu-Krow recently told Stabroek News.
“Irrespective of if we have the best rum in the world, I think we can do responsible drinking and I think that is an issue we want to bring to the table,” he added.
Adu-Krow while advocating for responsible drinking says that instead of just imposing punishment, effective programmes need to be created and implemented to steer people away from a life of alcohol.
