Saying that proper labelling of alcoholic beverages is an effective strategy to encourage responsible drinking, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) country representative Dr William Adu-Krow recently disclosed that this is among the recommendations listed in an alcohol control policy, which was handed over to the Public Health Ministry several months ago.
“There are people who would buy alcohol and say, ‘Oh wow, this is 45% alcohol. No that’s too much…’They would even buy wine and say that they don’t want anything over 18% or 13%. So if the labelling is there and it is being enforced, I think it goes a long way,” Dr. Adu-Krow told Stabroek News.
During the interview, which was conducted at his Brickdam office, he stressed that labelling has been proven to be the “reliable” thing to do.
“Therefore, in the alcohol policy that he [Dr. Norman Giesbrecht, a Canadian based alcohol abuse specialist] drafted …it’s part of that policy because, like I said, there is evidence to show that it (labelling) is effective,” he added.
