After tobacco, alcohol is the second biggest cause of cancer – before other risk factors like infections, physical inactivity, or sunlight. Worldwide, around 740 000 people get cancer due to alcohol, annually. However, more can be done to prevent it – but only with political will.
The world is experiencing a shift in awareness about alcohol harm, driven primarily by growing awareness that alcohol causes cancer, write Kristina Sperkova, Labram Musah and Juliet Namukasa in Daily Maverick.
Science has known, since 1988, that alcohol, like tobacco and asbestos, is a group one carcinogen. When humans consume ethanol in beer, wine, and liquor, the byproduct attacks the DNA.
Ireland will introduce cancer warnings on alcohol products. Norway is on track to do the same. Canada has just lowered the low-risk guidelines for alcohol use – largely due to the strong evidence of the link between alcohol and seven types of cancer. The World
Health Organisation started 2023 by issuing a clear statement that there is no healthy or safe amount of alcohol consumption.
And the media has been reporting widely and mostly accurately because people want to know.
We care about our health, and want to know what science has to say about the health effects of the products dominating our environments. As we have become more health and sustainability conscious, we are also growing more weary of the unethical business practices of multinational corporations.
The alcohol industry wants to keep people in the dark about the fact that their products are as carcinogenic as cigarettes and asbestos. Research has shown that awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer is very low internationally.
And so big corporations fight tooth and nail against scientific studies, against Ireland’s democratically decided cancer warning labelling, and against other alcohol policy initiatives.
This shows the cynical and greedy approach of alcohol companies, their executives and shareholders to maximising profits and fuelling massive harm.
But our politicians can do a lot to bring about change. They can develop alcohol taxation systems effectively protecting people from alcohol harm, including cancer.
For example, a recent research paper showed that doubling current alcohol excise duties would prevent 10 700 cancer cases and 4 850 cancer deaths due to alcohol in the WHO European Region, particularly in member states of the European Union where alcohol excise duties are often very low.
People have a right to be protected from carcinogenic substances. Our politicians can also place warning labels about cancer, heart disease, and other health and social harms from alcohol on the products’ labels. They can fund mass media campaigns to increase public recognition of the harm, ban alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion.
People have a right to be protected from predatory commercial practices. And our politicians can put in place common sense limits on the presence of alcohol in our communities.
Our politicians have proven solutions at their disposal. The world’s best scientists are telling us about the clear and direct link between alcohol and cancer.
There has never been a better time for an ambitious approach to protect our societies from cancer caused by alcohol. Such an initiative will protect and improve the health and well-being of people and communities, strengthen our health systems as alcohol harms, such as cancer cases and deaths, decline, and it will unlock fresh resources for investment in health promotion and disease prevention.
• Kristina Sperkova from Slovakia is the International President of Movendi International. Kristina is a psychologist with more than 20 years of experience in health promotion and alcohol prevention in development work and in alcohol policy advocacy.
• Juliet Namukasa from Uganda is a Board Member of Movendi International; the chairperson of the Uganda Alcohol Policy Alliance (UAPA) and Country Director for International Aid Services Uganda (IAS Uganda) with more than 20 years’ experience in development and humanitarian work.
• Labram M Musah from Ghana is a Board Member of Movendi International; the Executive Director of Programs of the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD-Ghana,) the leading organization advocating for stringent tobacco control and alcohol policy as well as road safety and climate change measures in Ghana. He doubles as the National Coordinator of the Ghana NCD Alliance.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
400 UK cancer cases daily from junk food, alcohol and sunbathing
Why under-50s cancer is rising – US review
WHO: 5,000 fewer lives a year lost to cancer if Europe ups alcohol tax
Light to moderate alcohol may reduce risks of cancer, CVD and mortality