The United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) has published
an open letter from Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua as it seeks to “open a
dialogue” on Mesoamerican nephropathy, a kidney disease thought to be
disproportionately affecting cane harvesters in Central America.
Mesoamerican nephropathy, or CKDu, is a
currently unexplained epidemic of chronic kidney disease prevalent in
communities along the Pacific coast. The disease mostly affects young and
middle-aged male labourers in the agricultural sector, particularly sugarcane
workers.
Although very little is known about the
causes of CKDu, the rum industry, and in particular its sugar cane production,
has come under intense criticism in recent years over concerns that working
conditions could contribute to workers developing the disease.
Aaron Gregory Smith, USBG executive
director, said in an email that the Guild has “established a discussion forum”
in order to “encourage open debate on the issue in a productive manner”. As
part of its work, it has contacted research institutions and other NGOs to gain
insight.
Carla Palazio, from Compañía Licorera
de Nicaragua, which produces Flor de Caña Rum, wrote the open letter to the
USBG after receiving correspondence from bartenders concerned that working
conditions at its Ingenio San Antonio Sugar Mill.
“We share their passion,” Palazio
opens. “For many years now, we have been dedicating significant resources to
this complex epidemic that has yet to be understood by the medical and
occupational health communities. However, since we consider the articles
incomplete, we would like to shed additional light on our efforts.” Palazio says that although press
articles share concern and sympathy for workers with the unsolved kidney
disease, they fail to reflect Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua’s commitment to
its workers.
In addition, the articles do not
discuss the company’s “openness to collaborating with many parties who have a
vested interest in understanding, diagnosing and proposing solutions to this
situation, nor referenced our research collaborations with academic medical
partners such as Boston University and Baylor University,” she writes. The company’s current operational
procedures reflect changes made based on the recommendations of these partners,
she adds, referring to the company’s “continued work” to advance knowledge and
prevention of the disease.
The USBG concludes that the step
towards establishing a dialogue is “only the first step”, and that it is
looking forward to working with members, partners and other community
stakeholders to “provide more insight” to the progress being made to fight the
disease.
Those
wanting to join the dialogue or looking for further information should contact the USBG.