(The Center Square) – The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory Friday recommending updated warning labels on alcoholic beverages.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s advisory includes a series of recommendations to increase awareness to reduce alcohol-related cancer cases and deaths. The advisory outlines the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Murthy said alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S. after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer.
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” Murthy said. “This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”
Dr. Bruce Scott, the president of the American Medical Association, praised the move.
“The American Medical Association applauds the Surgeon General’s work to make completely clear the link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. For years, the AMA has said that alcohol consumption at any level, not just heavy alcohol use or addictive alcohol use, is a modifiable risk factor for cancer. And yet, despite decades of compelling evidence of this connection, too many in the public remain unaware of alcohol’s risk,” he said in a statement. “Today’s advisory, coupled with a push to update the Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcoholic beverages, will bolster awareness, improve health, and save lives.”
The advisory makes additional recommendations, in addition to calling for an update on the health warning label on alcohol-containing beverages to include cancer risk. It calls for a reassessment of the guideline limits for alcohol consumption to account for cancer risk and advises people to be aware of the relationship between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk when considering whether or how much to drink.
It also calls for public health professionals and community groups to highlight alcohol consumption as a leading modifiable cancer risk factor and strengthen and expand education efforts to increase general awareness. Healthcare providers should inform patients in clinical settings about this link and promote the use of alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed.
