Within the vast Ministry of Public Health there is an entity known as the Alcohol Cluster, and this small agency has expressed its support for an initiative taken by the local newspaper Listin Diario that would curtail sales of alcoholic beverages throughout the country. Dr. Elias Tejada, the organizer of the cluster, points out that the consumption of alcoholic beverages is a serious health problem in the country. He cited the fact that 52% of pregnant women consume alcohol despite the lifetime damages to their unborn babies.
Dr. Tejada called upon the Committee on Alcoholic Beverages, part of the Ministry of the Interior and the Police, to do its job and force obeyance to the laws covering the sale of such beverages.
Dr. Tejada noted that small corner grocery stores that sold staples such as rice and beans, are now lounges fordancing and drinking alcohol. It is very widely known and it is stressed by the cluster that there is no “real” age limit for the consumption of alcohol in the Dominican Republic, and the sad statistics from last year’s-end proved this with over six dozen children being treated for alcoholic intoxication in public hospitals.
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Listin Diario
13 January 2025