Alcohol and Cancer
For too long, governments have been unwilling to lead on issues such as alcohol harm. Deaths due to alcohol are now at the highest rates on record, and there is strong evidence showing that alcohol use can contribute to a vast range of diseases, including several types of cancer. Last year, in England alone, 103,000 people were admitted to hospital with alcohol-related cancers.
This puts an incredible strain on our public services. It is estimated that alcohol-related harms cost public services £27 billion each year in England alone, both through NHS treatment and alcohol’s contribution to levels of economic inactivity and crime. The rate of alcohol-related deaths is also 1.7 times higher in the most deprived communities, which highlights the impact that alcohol has on health inequality in our country.
I am so pleased to hear that, in the coming months, the first ever UK guidelines on alcohol treatment will be published. This will provide recommendations on assessments for alcohol-related conditions and will improve the links between specialist alcohol treatment services and the rest of the healthcare system.
More information on how best to deal with alcohol prevention and cancer will be included in the national cancer plan, which will be published later this year. I look forward to this national plan building on the progress of the 10-year health plan, which was recently published. Together, these plans will drive the shift from treatment to prevention, including for those at risk of alcohol-related cancers.
I strongly support the commitment outlined in the 10-year health plan to ensure that health warnings and nutritional information are legally required on labels for alcohol. Voluntary regulations do not lead to consistent good practice across the alcohol industry, so I support the work to ensure that it is a legal requirement to display certain information on alcohol products. This will be a vital step in aiding people to make healthier decisions when it comes to alcohol consumption.
However, this step must be the beginning of the Government’s work, not the end. That is why I am glad that Ministers have committed to working across Government to consider further measures that might be needed to reduce the negative impacts of excessive alcohol consumption.