[Medical and sociocultural aspects of alcoholism in Chile, Colombia and Mexico (1)].

The consumption of alcohol by the population becomes a theme of medical-social relevance in so far as the excessive or problematic habit of drinking alcohol leads to the syndrome of alcoholism and may affect substantially the mental health of the population. This paper tries to introduce the theoretical and practical study of the psychocultural development of the alcohol drinking behaviour, based on some exemplary cases of Chile, Columbia and Mexico, in Latin America. Essential themes are: Which kind of relations does exist between the socio-economic conditions and the alcohol consumption behaviour in each particular case? Which are the social and/or age groups with greater propensity towards problematic drinking habits? Which of the autochthnous cultural elements are available for preventive activities inside the community?