Award winning campaign on alcohol’s cancer risk launches as demand for more information grows.
A “right to know the risks” from alcohol is one of the calls for action in Balance’s Blueprint for Reducing Alcohol Harm.
Balance is launching the next phase of a powerful campaign highlighting that alcohol causes 7 types of cancer. It comes as public demand for more factual information around the risks associated with alcohol grows.
Over 102,000 people have visited Balance’s Reduce My Risk website for more information on alcohol since last November during Balance’s “Alcohol is Toxic” campaign, while more than 8/10 NE adults now believe it is important to have health campaigns on alcohol.
Balance launches the next phase of its award-winning “Alcohol is Toxic” campaign from Monday November 18, to highlight that alcohol is a Group One carcinogen causing at least seven types of cancer – including bowel, breast, mouth and throat cancer. It encourages people to stay within Chief Medical Officer guidelines of no more than 14 units a week to stay “low risk”.
A “right to know” about alcohol risks nationally is one of the calls in “Reducing Alcohol Harm”, a ground-breaking Blueprint from Balance and other North East leaders calling for urgent national action to tackle the significant impact of alcohol on health, social care, crime, disorder, workplaces, and the economy.
Latest 2024 research of over 900 North East adults found:
- 82% believe it is important to have health campaigns on alcohol.
- 67% feel the government has a responsibility to try to protect people from alcohol harms by raising awareness of risks and encouraging people to drink within low risk guidelines.
- 62% of people who drink alcohol say they are now taking steps to try to manage consumption, while a record 15% do not drink alcohol.
One of those is Evie Jay, 32, from Brunswick, who began drinking at the age of 14 to escape bullying at school and problems at home which escalated into nightly wine drinking during lockdown.
She quit drinking after Christmas 2022 when she decided she had woken up too many times worrying about what she had said or done.
Evie said: “Things were getting out of hand. I could never just have one glass of wine, it was always more. When I went through a stressful period of time, I started drinking again and the hangovers were worse than ever. I finally recognised how alcohol was heightening my anxiety.
“I was using it to escape from my problems, but in reality I was making everything worse because of alcohol.
“Cutting it out for good has been good for all of us. It’s helped with my health generally and stopped me feeling so depressed and so tense. I make more time for me now. I’m a better friend, a better partner and a better mum.”
The TV advert from Balance – a winner of a Royal Television Society Award – is unlike any seen for alcohol in the UK. It was developed with input from medics and Cancer Research UK to follow the journey of alcohol through the body, demonstrating how alcohol mutates cells and leads to the formation of a tumour.
Over 3,200 men and women are diagnosed with an alcohol-related cancer every two years in the North East (1) including common cancers such as bowel, breast, throat and mouth cancers. Evidence is clear now that any level of regular drinking increases the risk, causing 500 deaths a year in the North East (1).
Susan Taylor, Head of Alcohol Policy for Fresh and Balance, said: “It is encouraging to see such a strong appetite for health information around alcohol, and we are seeing more people taking steps to cut down. People are being failed by the total lack of this information on alcohol products – but they do want to know the facts.
“Campaigns like these help give people the motivation to cut down. But we are surrounded by constant triggers to drink – from relentless alcohol advertising to cut price deals at the front of supermarkets which undermine that – awareness needs to be part of much wider effective action to reduce alcohol harm.
“82% of North East adults now see alcohol as a big problem regionally and nationally, and yet awareness of personal health risks is still worryingly low.. It is clear that reducing alcohol harms must be at the forefront of national efforts to build a healthier, safer and more economically productive country.”
Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health for Gateshead and Newcastle and Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “We might not like to think that drinking alcohol increases our risk of cancer. But that does not mean we should pretend that risk does not exist.
“For too long the harms of alcohol have been soaring – but a lack of national action has given a free pass for the alcohol industry to glamourise alcohol, keep people drinking at risky levels and surround us and our children with alcohol promotion.
“Many alcohol harms are preventable. We simply can’t afford for alcohol to be taking such a toll on individuals, families and communities and it is staggering to see the impact on frontline services across the North East. We now need to balance the profits of the alcohol industry with protecting local communities.”
Caroline Tweedie is a Living with Cancer Clinical Lead Practitioner/ Professional Nurse Advocate with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and said: “When it comes to breast cancer risk there are factors we can’t control, like age and genetics. But I think a lot of women will be shocked by the fact nearly 1 in 10 cases that we see is linked to alcohol intake.
“People never forget those words “you have cancer”. Lives just implode. I do think that if more women knew the risks around alcohol and cancer, they wouldn’t have that peer pressure to drink. It’s extremely difficult to say I’m not having that extra drink.
“I think if more women knew about breast cancer risk, we would support one another to drink that bit less and say it’s alright if you don’t want to have another drink.”
Dr James Crosbie is Clinical Lead for Alcohol in North East and North Cumbria and works as a GP and Consultant Gastroenterologist. He said: “Alcohol is a group one carcinogen, which puts it in the same group as tobacco, asbestos, and radiation. The fact is that even one drink a day increases your risk.
“There is no demonstrated safe level of alcohol when it comes to cancer – however even if you still do drink, then cutting down will reduce your risk.”
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The best way to reduce your risk is to cut down how much and how often you drink. If you do drink, UK Chief Medical Officers advise:
- Drinking no more than 14 units a week to stay “low risk” (about six glasses of wine, six double spirits or six pints of lager a week)
- Taking at least three drink free days a week to give your body a break.
About the Blueprint for Reducing Alcohol Harm
Last month Balance launched “Reducing Alcohol Harm”, a ground-breaking blueprint calling for urgent national action to tackle the significant impact of alcohol on health, social care, crime, disorder, workplaces, and the economy. 82% of North East adults consider alcohol to be a problem both regionally and nationally.
This new document from the North East alcohol programme underlines the critical need for stronger measures to curb alcohol-related harm across the region and the UK, and reveals the latest statistics to demonstrate how the public sees alcohol impacting on daily life.
The blueprint is supported by the Alcohol Health Alliance, the Institute of Alcohol Studies and prominent leaders from across the North East – including Directors of Public Health, Police and Crime Commissioners, the NHS Integrated Care Board for the North East and North Cumbria, and the Mayor of the North East Combined Authority – as well as by individuals who have directly experienced the harm alcohol can cause. It outlines key actions to alleviate the strain that alcohol places on the NHS and wider emergency services.
Stark Statistics Highlight the Need for Action:
- Alcohol contributes to nearly 980,000 hospital admissions and secondary diagnoses in England each year, including conditions such as cardiovascular disease, mental and behavioural disorders, cancers, and liver disease (2).
- The financial cost of alcohol is immense, with the North East alone incurring costs of around £1.5 billion annually in health, crime and disorder, social care, and economic costs (3), and nearly £27.4 billion across England (3).
References
(1) https://www.fresh-balance.co.uk/news/nearly-500-north-east-adults-a-year-dying-from-cancers-due-to-alcohol/ Alcohol and cancer deaths figures calculated from Global Burden of Disease. Cases taken from Office for Health Improvement and Disparities Public Health Profiles
(2) NHS Statistics on Alcohol, England 2021, Official statistics, National statistics: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-alcohol/2021/part-1