Alcohol’s link to cancer
Alcohol legislation needs to be tightened as ‘low-risk drinking’ and social, moderate drinking can cause cancer, experts say.
Up to a third of alcohol-related breast cancer deaths were in people whose drinking was considered low risk, University of Otago preventative and social medicine chair Professor Jennie Connor said.
Low-risk drinking has been defined as fewer than 14 standard drinks per week, with no more than four drinks at any one time, Connor said.
Connor and National Addiction Centre director Professor Doug Sellman have been discussing the direct links between drinking alcohol and cancer in a series of regional talks around New Zealand, including in Timaru on Tuesday night.
The Government ‘‘hasn’t acted in the public interest’’ and has been kept quiet by the alcohol industry, Sellman said. The burden of proof was on the scientists to prove the harm caused by alcohol, not the industry to prove it was not harmful, he said.
Alcohol Action South Canterbury member Gordon Rosewall said the talk highlighted the need to make the public aware of the burden of alcohol-related harm. ‘‘Alcohol is the number one recreational drug of choice’’ and is readily available, which had made it difficult for the message to get across, Rosewall said. Legislation needs to change because advocating for personal change was not effective enough, he said.
A 64 per cent drop in violent incidents around the Timaru bars had occurred between October 2007 and 2008 when the trading hours were tightened from 5am to 3am, he said. These were not ‘‘simply displaced’’ as the total number of violent incidents dropped from 402 to 369 during that period.
Rosewall called for a 5+ solution, which involved raising alcohol prices and the purchase age, reducing alcohol accessibility, marketing and advertising, and increasing drink driving counter measures.
About 60 per cent of all alcoholattributable deaths of New Zealand women are the result of breast cancer, a study, which Connor was a lead author in, found. This study followed research that identified 30 per cent of all alcohol-attributable deaths in the country were from cancer - about 250 deaths each year, she said.
Alcohol has been identified as a cause of cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, liver, large bowel and breast.
Connor was concerned many people were not listening to the science, despite evidence and a ‘‘scientific consensus’’ from international and national research papers. These were often overlooked or undervalued as they were not referring to a specific location: ‘‘Local anecdote trumps science,’’ Connor said.
Sellman said it cost ‘‘$1 million for a good study’’ and hundreds of studies to draw a solid conclusion. However, the alcohol industry has ‘‘enormous lobbying power and influence’’ with money to spend on advertising and lobbying. It was an ‘‘irresponsible industry’’ as it knew its product created harm, but did not warn people of the product.
However, neither ruled out drinking, but instead encouraged drinking in a low-risk manner.
Ministry of Health mental health director Doctor John Crawshaw said the ministry funded the Health Promotion Agency to provide information on alcohol-related harm, including a ‘‘comprehensive website and interactive tools’’. The alcohol.org website provided ‘‘information on alcohol and the increased risk of several types of cancer’’, Crawshaw said.