Medical experts are advocating for graphic cancer warnings on alcohol bottles, mirroring India's successful tobacco label strategy. Alcohol is a confirmed carcinogen tied to over 20 cancers, yet public awareness remains dangerously low. With India's youth increasingly consuming alcohol and cancer cases rising 36% in a decade, oncologists call this an urgent public health priority. The proposal highlights how visual warnings could disrupt glamorized alcohol portrayals in media while saving lives through prevention.
"Cancer warning labels on
alcohol bottles are a low-cost, high-impact intervention" – Dr. Abhishek
Shankar, AIIMS Delhi
Medical experts are advocating for
graphic cancer warnings on alcohol bottles, mirroring India's successful
tobacco label strategy. Alcohol is a confirmed carcinogen tied to over 20
cancers, yet public awareness remains dangerously low. With India's youth
increasingly consuming alcohol and cancer cases rising 36% in a decade,
oncologists call this an urgent public health priority. The proposal highlights
how visual warnings could disrupt glamorized alcohol portrayals in media while
saving lives through prevention.
Adopting tobacco-style warning labels
on alcohol bottles can be a key measure to prevent the rising burden of cancer
in India, said experts on Tuesday.
Key Points
1 Alcohol linked to 20+ cancers including breast and liver
with low public awareness
2 India's alcohol market grows rapidly among youth and
adolescents
3 Tobacco-style warnings proven effective in shifting
consumption habits
4 Movies and social media myths fuel dangerous alcohol
normalization
A recent paper, published in the journal Frontiers in Public
Health, called for strong, evidence-based warning labels on alcohol products,
building on India’s success with tobacco warnings.
Alcohol, like tobacco, is a proven
carcinogen linked to several cancers, including liver, breast and colon, yet
awareness remains low.
“Cancer warning labels on alcohol
bottles are a low-cost, high-impact intervention that can raise awareness,
influence consumption habits, and prevent long-term health harm,” lead author
Dr Abhishek Shankar, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology at All
India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, told IANS.
“With India having one of the
fastest-growing alcohol markets and the largest adolescent population globally,
adopting such preventive measures is not just necessary but urgent to protect
our youth and reduce the nation’s growing burden of alcohol-related cancers,”
the oncologist added.
Cancer cases in India have seen a
steep rise, with data from the 2012 to 2022 period suggesting a 36 per cent
uptick in incidence (1.01 million−1.38 million).
Data from GLOBOCAN 2022 showed about
1.41 million new cancer cases in India, with a five-year prevalence of around
3.25 million and a total cancer mortality of 916,827 cases.
The alcohol attributable fraction for
cancer and age-standardised rate per 100,000 in India are 4.7 per cent and 4.8,
respectively, according to the GLOBOCAN 2020 data.
“Alcohol consumption in India is
rising at an alarming pace, particularly among adolescents and young adults,
making it a silent driver of preventable cancers. Evidence now confirms there
is no safe level of alcohol use when it comes to cancer risk, with links to
cancers of the colon, breast, liver, oral cavity, and more,” Shankar said.
“Among preventable diseases and
deaths, alcohol-related conditions rank high. It raises the risk of many types
of cancer and also liver cirrhosis -- all of which are expensive and cumbersome
to treat,” added Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Chairman, Scientific Committee, IMA
Cochin.
The expert also called out against
glorifying the use of alcohol in movies.
“Unfortunately, our movie culture
glorifies alcohol use, with younger viewers wanting to emulate movie characters
despite statutory warnings. There is also rampant misinformation circulating on
social media claiming the health benefits of alcohol, almost all of which have
been proven wrong. Still, many people wrongly believe it is good for the heart.
Therefore, it is important to include clear health-related labels,” Jayadevan
told IANS.
Meanwhile, studies have linked
alcohol consumption with more than 20 types of cancers.
The most common cancers linked to
alcohol are of the mouth, throat, foodpipe, stomach, colon, rectum, and
pancreas. It also causes cancers of the breast in women and prostate in males..
According to experts, chronic alcohol
consumption weakens the immune system, reducing its capacity to identify and
destroy cancerous cells.
“India successfully demonstrated the
power of pictorial warnings on tobacco in shifting behaviors and saving lives.
It is time we apply the same public health tool to alcohol. With rising alcohol
use, especially among youth, it’s time to act proactively to prevent avoidable
cancers and save lives,” Shankar told IANS.
https://www.newkerala.com/news/o/tobacco-style-warnings-alcohol-bottles-aid-fight-against-cancer-978
No comments:
Post a Comment