There was welcome news last week that the members of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers’ Association (WIRSPA) will be (hopefully soon) introducing alcohol labels, “that contain visual guides against drinking and driving, underage consumption and drinking during pregnancy, all areas of concern both for producers and for the health sector.”
A press release from WIRSPA published by this newspaper, said the members will also be adopting a new code of practice for the advertisement and marketing of their products. It specified that the new proposed labels are for the domestic and regional markets. It stated, too, that the move was in recognition that the “harmful use” of alcohol contributed to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and was recommended by a task force as a means of supporting the efforts of regulatory agencies and the health sector to encourage responsible drinking.
Maybe there is a business code or legal barrier that would prevent WIRSPA members from using the proposed new labelling on products they sell internationally as well. If this is the case, then they should be, even now, trying to find ways around it. If not, then it is disappointing that the association would choose to limit the warning labels to local and regional markets. Labels that warn about the dangers of misusing alcohol ought to be universal. People are people, and the misuse of these products affect them in the same way regardless of where in the world they live.
Gratitude at WIRSPA’s concern over the increase in NCDs in the region and its first step in the right direction, also does not take away from the fact that a major danger from harmful alcohol use was not specifically mentioned in its press release and it should have been.
What is referred to as alcohol’s second-hand harms, is a blanket term for all of its adverse effects on others, especially those who do not drink. Harms that fall under this blanket include vandalism, poverty, divorce, domestic violence, sexual assault, murder and fatalities caused by those driving under the influence. There are adverse childhood effects from second-hand drinking which include neglect, anxiety and other mental-health problems, insecurity, fear, worry and generally, toxic stress. There is also the tendency for children who grow up in the midst of alcohol’s second-hand harms to suffer from an alcohol-use disorder at some point in their lives. This is the legacy that parents who are alcoholics pass on to their children, often unwittingly.
According to Reuters Health, a recent study, the findings of which were published just days ago on July 1, likens alcohol’s second-hand harms to second-hand smoking. The study, conducted in the United States, found that over a one-year period more than one in five women and nearly one in four men experienced some harm related to someone else’s drinking.
No studies have been done in Guyana and none appear to have been done in the West Indies (Caribbean) for that matter on the effects of alcohol’s second-hand harms. Nevertheless, there is a plethora of anecdotal evidence at every turn. In the case of domestic violence, for instance, very often we read in the newspapers that the complaint included the detail that the perpetrator was drunk or had been drinking. Friends have been known to brutally assault friends, beat them into unconsciousness or kill them over petty arguments in the midst of or following a drinking spree.
How many of us grew up in homes, or knew someone who did, where certain amenities that might have made life easier were unavailable because the purchase of alcohol took preference? Further, how many had friends or relatives who had to forego proper nutrition or educational opportunities for the same reason? How often do we see the two above scenarios playing out every day in our communities? Haven’t we also been acquainted with or read about some innocent bystander who lost his or her life owing to a drunk driver?
It is a pity that the WIRSPA did not seem to have made the connection, or if it was made, chose not to highlight it, but alcoholism does not just contribute to NCDs, just like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer, alcoholism is a chronic NCD. It is treatable, but successful treatment requires a lifelong commitment, motivation and lots of support.
Alcohol label warnings, therefore, need to extend beyond the bland “please drink responsibly” that many brands currently condescend to. The WIRSPA now has the opportunity to lead the way in ensuring that the drinking public is fully sensitized to the risks associated with its members’ products. One hopes that the association will do the responsible thing.
