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Research suggesting fewer than one in two Australians know drinking can cause cancer has led to a call for more public awareness.
Many Australians remain unaware that even low levels of drinking can increase cancer, with stronger warning labels being recommended.
Healthcare experts are again calling for increased awareness of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer through clearer warning labels, public health campaigns and education in primary care settings.
This comes in the wake of a recent national survey of more than 2000 Australian adults, revealing that only half understand the risks of alcohol, including that it can cause seven types of cancer.
Conducted by Alcohol Change Australia, the survey revealed that less than half (46%) of respondents knew that alcohol causes cancer, while just 14% were aware it can lead to breast cancer.
These findings – together with various other research suggesting Australians are still lacking this knowledge – come despite the link between cancer and alcohol being established more than three decades ago.
Dr Hester Wilson is a Sydney GP and Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Addiction Medicine. She told newsGP these repeated findings again highlight the need for better awareness around the associated harms of any level of alcohol consumption.
‘As GPs it is clearly part of our role in terms of preventive care,’ she said.
‘And the interactions that we have with patients around the kind of habits and lifestyles they have – whether that be nutrition, exercise, smoking, alcohol, or other behaviours, it’s absolutely core to what we do.’
Dr Wilson said as well as the known high risks of harm from hazardous and dependent use of alcohol, many people likely do not know that even what are considered much lower ‘safer drinking levels’ can cause harm.
‘This feels like a really well-kept secret that people don’t realise,’ she said.
‘For example, alcohol increases your risk of breast cancer, so anything we can do as women to cut down on our risk is a good thing.
‘It is a really important role for us as GPs to be flagging that alcohol does increase your risk of cancer.
‘For low-level drinking, people are not dependent, so they can change that behaviour, they can choose.’
Alcohol remains the most widely used and harmful drug in Australia, with around one in three people (6.6 million) drinking alcohol in ways that put their health at risk in 2022–23.
The Alcohol Change Australia survey indicates that 39% of respondents drink alcohol at risky levels, and knowledge of the link between alcohol and cancer is lower among men, younger Australians, people living in regional areas, and people in lower income households.
Additionally, seven in 10 people agree more needs to be done by governments to increase awareness of and reduce the harms caused by alcohol.
Backed by health bodies including the Cancer Council, Alcohol and Drug Foundation, and Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, the report calls for the introduction of ‘clear and visible’ health warning labels on all alcohol products as part of a national strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm and prevent cancer.
Dr Wilson believes it a good idea to include warning labels on all alcohol products to ensure people are making informed choices.
‘This is a really good time to go back and have a look at the legislation of how the current labels are used to ensure that information is there,’ she said.
‘If there are health warnings they should be on the product, no matter how they’re bought, they should be freely available and seen, including when buying online.
‘That includes any warning of the risks of cancer … similar to tobacco labelling.’
Influencing healthy lifestyle and behavioural change should come naturally to GPs, Dr Wilson says, and flagging alcohol risks can be incorporated in yearly checkups.
‘Some GPs feel a bit anxious about talking about alcohol because it might offend the patient, but there’s very little evidence that people are offended and in fact, they expect us to talk about things related to their health,’ she said.
‘But it’s important to flag with them why we’re asking and ask permission. What I always say is, “As your GP I’m concerned about your health and wellbeing and we know that certain lifestyle behaviours can affect your health, so is it okay I talk to you about them?”
‘It’s an opportunity, and we see the majority of the population and they trust us, we see them over time. We’re in this really privileged situation.
‘So just asking those things: are you aware that even at low levels of drinking, it increases your risk of cancer?
‘I also acknowledge that we’re all time poor, but prevention is really core to what we do.’
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