Accra: The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for decisive political measures against alcohol, to combat tens of thousands of cancer cases in Europe, it said in a statement on Tuesday. 'Strong alcohol policies are among the smartest investments you can make,' said the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), at the launch of a comprehensive report on cancer prevention. Such a policy saves lives, saves money and also shows results within a few years, the statement said.
According to Ghana News Agency, in a new report, WHO data shows the European Union is the subregion with the highest alcohol consumption in the world, and also one in which cancer is now considered the leading cause of death. In 2020, alcohol caused an estimated 111,300 new cases of cancer in the European Union, including tens of thousands of cases of colorectal, breast, and oral cancer. The IARC now takes a closer look for the first time at the prevention of alcohol-related cancers, which experts say include at least seven different types of cancer.
The findings of the report leave no room for doubt, according to the Copenhagen-based WHO Europe: 'Alcohol taxation, restricted availability and strong marketing bans reduce alcohol consumption at the population level and, in turn, reduce the cancer burden.' Gundo Weiler, director of prevention and health promotion at WHO Europe, said the countries of the EU subregion are paying too high a price for alcohol in the form of preventable cancers, broken families, and billions in costs for taxpayers. 'The WHO European Region cannot afford the illusion that consuming alcohol is harmless,' he added.
