It seems women folk in Kerala have reasons to cheer. There is a significant drop in liquor consumption among women in the age group of 15-49 in Kerala, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21 released recently.
As per the survey, liquor consumption among women in the State has dropped to 0.03% from the 1.6% in the previous survey held in 2015-16. Kerala has made the stride even as the proportion of women who drink has remained unchanged at the national level.
At the national level, only 0.7% of women drink alcohol compared to 22.4% of men. Similarly, the State has improved its position in the alcohol index of men, with 26% of men drinking alcohol compared to 37% in the NFHS 2015-16.
Among States, Arunachal Pradesh (17.8%) tops the graph of women alcohol drinkers, followed by Sikkim (14.8%).
In South, Telangana and Andaman and Nicobar Islands top the charts for female and male drinkers respectively. Kerala is in the 21st position in the country in terms of female alcohol consumption, even as men stand in 24th position.
The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) sales figures also underscore the change in the mindset of Kerala. As compared to the foreign liquor sales volume during the period in 2011-16, there was a drop of 112.51 lakh cases in sales during the period of 2016-21.
However, the feedback from the ground is not so hopeful for the State.
Dibin Das, counsellor and director of Dale View, a voluntary organisation which has a long experience in de-addiction treatment and rehabilitation in Thiruvananthapuram, said: “I don’t think there was any remarkable improvement in alcohol addiction in Kerala. Last financial year, we rehabilitated 15 women addicted to alcohol, while the number was hardly one or two, five years ago.
Similarly, at present, 22 students have been undergoing treatment at our centre and the majority of them are addicted to synthetic drugs along with alcohol,” said Mr. Das.
“Due to the rise in cases, we increased our hospital bed strength from 15 to 80 now. The only notable thing is that there was a social stigma attached to addiction as well as drinking in the past. But now it has almost disappeared. So, if there was any drop in alcohol consumption as per the statistics, there would be an equal or more rise in synthetic drug abuse on the other side,” Mr. Das said.
