Health minister criticises alcoholism TV show
German Health Minister Daniel Bahr has sharply criticised the first episode of a new RTL programme “The Jenke Experiment” in which the show’s host gets drunk on a daily basis to see how excessive alcoholism affects his life.
“Alcohol addiction is a health problem and people who have this share a difficult fate,” Bahr told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“The same goes for relatives and others close to the sick person. Showing the fate of an alcoholic in this way is completely unacceptable in my opinion,” he said.
The show’s first episode is scheduled to air on Monday. For the new series the host, Jenke von Wilmsdorff, drank enough alcohol to raise the alcohol level in his blood to at least 1.0 or double the legal 0.5 pro mille limit in Germany.
The goal is to test “how my health is affected from excessive alcohol consumption,” the reporter said.
RTL, a private station, defended the series, saying it is important to “touch the boundaries” of a topic that is “often played down or swept under the rug.”
DAPD/The Local/mw
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“Alcohol addiction is a health problem and people who have this share a difficult fate,” Bahr told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“The same goes for relatives and others close to the sick person. Showing the fate of an alcoholic in this way is completely unacceptable in my opinion,” he said.
The show’s first episode is scheduled to air on Monday. For the new series the host, Jenke von Wilmsdorff, drank enough alcohol to raise the alcohol level in his blood to at least 1.0 or double the legal 0.5 pro mille limit in Germany.
The goal is to test “how my health is affected from excessive alcohol consumption,” the reporter said.
RTL, a private station, defended the series, saying it is important to “touch the boundaries” of a topic that is “often played down or swept under the rug.”
DAPD/The Local/mw
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