In the last two years, 37 people had died of alcohol related diseases while 283 others were admitted in the Monggar Regional Hospital. Alcoholism, according to doctors, has been a serious problem in the east and continues to remain so.
The hospital sees an alcohol related patient on a daily basis and doctors say the problem has only grown in recent times.
Dr. Dinesh Pradhan of Monggar Regional Hospital said complications range from liver, stomach, kidney and heart diseases. They form the highest number of patients in the hospital.
The doctor said a lot of patients also repeatedly visit the hospital on account of alcoholism, but despite treatment and advice from doctors, people continue to consume alcohol and return to hospital for treatment.
“We have patients, who had visited the hospital for detoxification multiple times, but most of them relapse and come back again.”
Drinking, particularly in the east, is an age-old tradition and while locally-brewed alcohol is a popular taste, commercial beverages are also being consumed largely today.
Kinzang, 61, from Monggar, who had come to buy whiskey for the Losar, explained that in old times, people start drinking as soon as they wake up and finish the day off drinking. Some, he said, even woke up as early as 4 AM in the morning to drink. Kinzang said things have remained more or less the same even today.
Most people in Monggar, he said, preferred Whiskey, Rum, Beer, Black Mountain and Highland.
Many alcohol-related crimes have also been reported with the police in Mongar and there are also equal numbers of court cases.
