Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is urging residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to be wary of the effects of rum consumption on their bodies.
The Prime Minister, speaking on WE FM’s Issue At Hand program, discussed the prevalence of rum shops in communities throughout the country.
He called on persons to think of how the excessive drinking of rum can affect their health.
“This matter of the matter of the number of rum shops coming about is something which we have to watch as a nation. Not just the opening of the rum shop but the drinking of rum, we have to watch that,” he said.
The Prime Minister spoke about the connection between excessive drinking of rum and non-communicable diseases like diabetes.
“People think that when they’re drinking rum—they’re consuming a lot of sugar, diabetes is a hell of a problem, and if you drink and you ain’t eat properly, it creates further problems. Your young body may be able to hold it for a while, but very quickly that body becomes, not cured by the rum you know, it will become aged by excessive drinking of alcohol,” the Prime Minister said.
Minister of Health St. Clair Prince in the past has brought attention to the fact that non-communicable diseases like diabetes, are not being taken seriously enough by the island’s population, even though it is one of the main causes of disabilities in the country.
