Why tobacco-style warnings on alcohol bottles can aid fight against cancer

NEW DELHI: Adopting tobacco-style warning labels on alcohol bottles can be a key measure to prevent the rising burden of cancer in India, said experts on Tuesday.

A recent paper, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, called for strong, evidence-based warning labels on alcohol products, building on India’s success with tobacco warnings.

Alcohol, like tobacco, is a proven carcinogen linked to several cancers, including liver, breast and colon, yet awareness remains low.

“Cancer warning labels on alcohol bottles are a low-cost, high-impact intervention that can raise awareness, influence consumption habits, and prevent long-term health harm,” lead author Dr Abhishek Shankar, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, told IANS.

“With India having one of the fastest-growing alcohol markets and the largest adolescent population globally, adopting such preventive measures is not just necessary but urgent to protect our youth and reduce the nation’s growing burden of alcohol-related cancers,” the oncologist added.

Cancer cases in India have seen a steep rise, with data from the 2012 to 2022 period suggesting a 36 per cent uptick in incidence (1.01 million−1.38 million).

Data from GLOBOCAN 2022 showed about 1.41 million new cancer cases in India, with a five-year prevalence of around 3.25 million and a total cancer mortality of 916,827 cases.