"Dem aint seh you cyan drink, dem seh yuh cyan smoke ... "

Health Centre
The man, slightly drunk, is amusing people waiting  at the health centre.  I am smiling too at some of the things. The happy drunk. He had brought one of his friends to see the doctor. 
He opened the plastic bottle which once contained water and now contained another liquid. A woman said 'You cyan drink in hey.. '


"Dem aint seh you cyan drink in hey.. dem seh you cyan smoke... "
It is true.. there are posters about the dangers of smoking and tobacco nearby. There are no posters against alcohol consumption. 

The health centre has a protocol of refusing entry to drunk people. But that is difficult to do if there is blood visible.  Two other men come in, looking drunk.

A woman comes in, she seems in pain. The drunk man says that is dah man wife.  Another woman comes in, barefoot, clothes dirty, slippers in hand. Probably easier to walk barefoot thant with slippers.. Her mother. The drunk man asks her to stand up by the gate. "Oh gawd, she stink she gun knack you out'. The woman does not say anything.

Another woman comes in , barefoot. The drunk man starts to tantalise her. The woman says nothing.  and then says 'I aint tell you nutting, don't tell me nuttin'.  Part of the community's sajiwan crew.

The nurses are tolerant. There is a protocol to refuse drink people at the gate, but that is difficult if they are bleeding or in pain. The drunk man moves from being amusing to being annoying and at some point starts to cry.  People around him look on quietly.  He and I start talking at some point, and then I move away. He wants a raise from me and does not believe I was born in Guyana.

The irony is that the health centre is not the only place you can drink, but not smoke. Some people were upset at the behaviour of some people enjoying alcohol and cricket at the CPL. You also can drink and not smoke at the CPL.


Raising a glass to the country's rum drinking tradition..
According to the World Health Organisationm alcohol poses the largest disease burden in Africa, the Americas, and Western Pacific. Tobacco is the largest disease burden in Europe and South-East Asia. There are some global politics around tobacco and alcohol, as with most things. Both are bad. I am watching the Oprah Winfrey produced TV serial Greenleaf. Something about the show.. Christian people.. and the liquor they are consuming.. men and women, straight and gay. Always pouring liquor. In Guyana I know that many Christians do not drink. No one is smoking though. 

That is how the industry works, how culture works. Some of the bollywood films I saw recently also showed the film stars drinking, and often.

 The  American man running the Guyana Tourism Authority has organised a new website. The website encourages tourists to visit Guyana's pubs, and to 'raise a glass to the rum drinking tradition'.  There is an average of one daily reported violent incident in which alcohol consumption is in the  background. There are many unreported incidents of violence. Some of the people who use alcohol as the fuel for their destruction have little or no access to treatment.

The recent 'alcohol drinking at taxpayers expense in Parliament' had some concerns. Stabroek News carried an editorial 'Rum in the house'  which lamented that lack of attention by Guyana's policy makers to the alcohol problem. It will be absurd, to add to other dysfunctions of Guyana's governance, to discuss how to deal with a problem caused by something which is considered 'positive'. They can drink in parliament buildings, but they can't smoke!

But the tourism man from the USA and his bosses wants tourists to raise a glass.

"I is Satan... I am not always like this"
The man talked as others have done. The moaning about being bad, and being good. Another young man I know fortunately was able to recover from alcoholism, though it was expensive.  Others are not so lucky. Some avoid accidents when driving, others do not. Some pay off and drive again. It is all a big joke, things to 'raise a glass to'.

Focus on the alcohol, not the poison control..
Years ago, one of the PAHO doctors had said that as far as he was concerned where Guyana was on the suicide prevention issue, control of alcohol was a more serious issue than control of poisons.

Public health data is not trustworthy, so we are not sure really of what the correlations are with the violence and health matters and alcohol consumption. One doctor told me her life would have been much easier if Guyanese did not drink, especially when she was on weekend or holiday emergency call.

While some of the law makers enjoy the liquor, it is really up to the country to decide if it has an alcohol problem and how it will deal with it.

The drunk man told me that he drinks rum because he has nothing else to do. Others drink for friends, relaxation, etc etc.  No one drinks though to go kill or harm someone else or themselves. But that happens. Often.
Tobacco is part of the Guyana culture.
Not all culture is good culture.