Top US physician in favor of cancer warnings on alcoholic beverages

Alcohol consumption is responsible for around 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 deaths from cancer every year in the USA, said Murthy, who heads the US Public Health Service as Surgeon General. The US Congress must therefore revise the alcohol warnings on drinks introduced in the USA in 1988 and also draw attention to the cancer risk.

Murthy went on to write that the link between alcohol and cancer has been known since the 1980s. The number of cancer deaths attributable to alcohol in the USA each year is significantly higher than the 13,500 traffic fatalities associated with alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, "the majority of Americans" do not know about this risk.

Notice only for pregnant women and drivers

So far, the warnings on alcoholic beverages sold in the USA only state that women should not consume alcohol during pregnancy and that alcohol consumption impairs the ability to drive or operate machinery.

Alcohol consumption increases the risk of several types of cancer such as breast and bowel cancer as well as tumors of the liver, mouth, throat, trachea and oesophagus. However, according to a 2019 survey, only 45 percent of US citizens rate alcohol as a risk factor for cancer - compared to nine out of ten for tobacco and radioactivity.

In his new statement, Surgeon General Murthy also questions the dietary guidelines on alcoholic beverages previously issued by the US authorities: They have so far recommended a maximum of one alcoholic drink per day for women and a maximum of two for men. However, according to studies, 17 percent of people who died from alcohol-related fatal cancers had consumed alcohol within these guidelines.