DRUGS-CUBA: Culture Blamed for Alcohol Abuse

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Nov 30 1998 (IPS) - Seven to nine percent of Cubans imbibe large amounts of alcoholic beverages, but this has more to do with cultural patterns than with an eight-year economic crisis in Cuba, according to experts here.

Experts from the state’s ‘Programa nacional de rehabilitacion y control del alcoholismo (‘National programme for rehabilitation and control of alcohol abuse’) say drinking has always been part of the day-to-day lives of the more than 11 million Cubans.

However, they also say there is evidence that the number of alcoholics, both men and women, has been going up.

“Women are also affected by this phenomenon, and in the past few years there has been an increase in consumption among this sector of the population,” Dr. Magalys Martinez said at a scientific meeting held this month in Havana.

Martinez indicated that the highest levels of consumption were among 25- to 30-year-olds and people in their 50s.

In the former group, most cases were linked to disfunctional families and stress, she said, while 50-year-olds tended to turn to alcohol when they faced the departure of their children from the home, menopause, or the break-up of their marriages.

A study conducted among 60 women revealed that 65 percent started drinking to please their husbands. Around 30 percent had male partners who drank, 20 percent had alcoholic fathers and 10 percent had alcoholic mothers.

The study found that some people kept drinking a lot because they were not involved enough in socially useful activities. Others drank because their families were disfunctional, because they had no motivation or because their self-image did not tie in with reality.

Public health officials feel a national programme needs to be set up to deal with the high levels of alcohol abuse in Cuba.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 70 percent of people worldwide drink alcohol, including 10 percent who are considered alcoholics. In 1997, some 160 million people were addicted to alcohol.

Although there is no national study on the problem in Cuba, regional surveys show that in some areas up to 70 percent of the population consume alcohol.

In the town of Caimarena, 970 kms from Havana, 97 percent of the 1,057 people interviewed – 98.6 percent of the men and 95.8 percent of the women – said they drank alcohol regularly. Around 32 percent of the men and 5.6 percent of the women were considered alcoholics. Most of the drinkers were young people between the ages of 21 and 32.

Alcohol consumption has an effect on the frequency of accidents and the rates of cirrhosis, family violence and suicide, said Jose Sandoval, a physician and specialist at the National Programme for Rehabilitation and Control of Alcohol Abuse. Sandoval warned that alcohol was a drug that opens the door to the use of more dangerous substances.

While Cuba’s authorities, who keep a close eye on narcotics, say drug abuse is not a social problem on the island, in the past few years, it has been increasing slightly, in tandem with growing tourism here.

Expert studies indicate that alcohol consumption patterns are conditioned by the significant presence of beverages on the market and by an extension of the hours during which alcohol is sold.

Moreover, there is little entertainment for Cubans other than bars, discotheques or gatherings of relatives and friends, and the rum bottle is always present in such cases.

Cuba’s first group of Alcoholics Anonymous was formed in 1993 in a Baptist Church. Two years later, there were 38 active groups with more than 2,000 members from all walks of society. Their composition shows that alcohol abuse affects intellectuals, workers, Communist Party militants, soldiers, and people of various religions alike.

Sandoval said the official programme has so far targetted mainly the children of alcoholic parents and bootleggers.