The Ministry of Public Health and the Pan-American Health Organization are asking the Ministry of Interior and Police to maintain the curfew on the sale of alcohol in the Dominican Republic. Traditionally, the curfew has been lifted for the Christmas holidays. Jose Mieses, director of Mental Health at the Ministry of Public Health expressed his concern that drinking is behind the increase in social and family violence and traffic accidents during the holiday season. Ana Isabel Quan, Pan-American Health Organization consultant, says that the DR ranks at the top of traffic accident victims in the region with 41.7% per 100,000 inhabitants. A recent study carried out by the National Social Security Council (CNSS) revealed that the social cost of the deaths by traffic accidents is around 2.21% of the Gross Domestic Product.