EVERY BOTTLE OF ALCOHOL ‘TO GET CANCER WARNING’
Under proposed new laws given the thumbs-up by Simon Harris...
ALCOHOL products will come with labels warning of their links to cancer, under proposals accepted last night by the Health Minister which will now go before the Dáil.
Simon Harris said Ireland ‘could no longer ignore the risks’ posed by alcohol consumption.
The proposals are part of the controversial Public Alcohol Health Bill, which returned to the Seanad for debate yesterday – more than a year after it was almost derailed over disagreements on its content among Fine Gael senators.
Yesterday, an amendment put forward by Independent Senator Frances Black and the Labour Party – proposing that alcohol products should contain ‘a warning that is intended to inform the public that alcohol causes cancer’ – was
accepted by the House. Singer Ms Black, who has been open about her battle with alcoholism, told the Seanad that since the last time the Bill was debated, ‘more than 1,000 people have died from alcohol related harm’.
She urged that there would be no more delays to the legislation – which proposes measures including minimum-unit pricing for drink, tight regulations on the display of alcohol in shops, and restrictions on advertising.
Speaking about the dangers of alcohol, Mr Harris told the Seanad: ‘The CSO recently published figures which showed Ireland was top in the EU for binge drinking in 2014.
‘The more we drink, the higher our risk of developing life-changing illnesses such as alcoholic liver diseases or alcohol-related cancers. We can no longer ignore the evidence or the risks.’
Mr Harris added that the legislation had been stalled for far too long, and urged the Seanad to show it is ‘committed to tackling the alcohol problem in Ireland’.
Although the proposal to include a warning about the cancer risk on alcohol products was accepted by the Health Minister yesterday, the entire Bill will have to return to the Dáil once it is eventually passed by the Seanad.
Yesterday, the Irish Cancer Society urged senators to ‘strengthen’ the Bill to include ‘a warning on the link between alcohol consumption and fatal cancers on all alcohol products’. Donal Buggy, ICS head of services and advocacy, said the move is an important step in educating the public about the link between cancer and alcohol consumption.
Mr Buggy added: ‘About 500 people die in Ireland every year from cancers associated with alcohol.’
These sentiments were echoed last night by Labour Senator Ged Nash, who said: ‘The general lack of awareness around the causal link between alcohol and cancer is frightening and demands a public policy response.’
Earlier this month, the American Society of Clinical Oncology published an article citing evidence that even light drinking can slightly raise a woman’s risk of breast cancer. And yesterday, the Irish College of General Practitioners called for cross-party support for the alcohol Bill.
ICGP chair of communications Mark Murphy said: ‘This legislation for the first time will ensure that alcohol is no longer treated as just another ordinary commodity or grocery in our supermarkets or other outlets – it ensures that alcohol sales are regulated effectively to reduce alcohol harm and improve public health, safety and wellbeing.’
However, many retail groups are unhappy with some of the provisions in the Bill. The Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association, which represents 1,500 retailers, has gathered 80,000 signatures on a petition seeking reassurances on Section 20 of the Bill, which calls for alcohol to be kept separated from other products in shops.
The proposals would only apply to larger retailers after Minister Harris agreed to table an amendment to ease the concerns of small shops, allowing them to display a small amount of alcohol near other products.
However, the CSNA has said the amendment ‘will be of help to less than 5% of retail outlets in Ireland’. CEO Vincent Jennings added: ‘This proposal does not cover the needs of a huge proportion of the small and medium-sized retail sector who must still create a separate space for alcohol in their stores.’
Independent craft brewers are also upset with the amendment as they feel the limited space will be taken up by mass-market alcohol products as opposed to their niche products.
‘We can’t ignore the risks’