Alcohol is a major carcinogen, causing over 3000 new cases of cancer and around 1400 cancer deaths in Australia each year.
Cancer Council Australia calls on the next Australian government to implement a comprehensive alcohol strategy, based around:
- an improved alcohol taxation system;
- restricting marketing and promotion of alcohol, particularly to protect younger people;
- mandatory health information and warning labels for alcohol products.
Reducing long-term alcohol consumption is a critical cancer control issue. In 2005, 1376 Australians died of an alcohol-related cancer(1) – more than double the number of alcohol road deaths.(2,3) Alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen,(4) linked to more than 2997 new cancer cases in Australia each year, including common cancers such as breast cancer - up to 22% of cases (5).
One in 10 Australians aged 14 years and over drinks at levels risky to their long term health while 13% drink at risky levels for short term harm (i.e. binge drinking) at least monthly.(6) The costs of alcohol-related harm in Australia were estimated to be $15.3 billion in 2004-05.(7)
Cancer Council Australia therefore calls on the next Australian government to build on current short-term harm minimisation approaches and the Preventative Health Taskforce’s recommendations with a comprehensive alcohol strategy, based around:
1. An improved alcohol taxation system, encompassing:
- taxing products according to their alcohol content;
- regulation of minimum prices to achieve real shifts in per capita consumption;
- allocating tax revenues to fund or recover costs of alcohol prevention, treatment programs and other costs arising from alcohol-related disease;
- continuing to adjust alcohol excise every six months in line with CPI;
- continual monitoring and independent evaluation of the alcohol taxation system, and research into potential improvements.
2. Restricting marketing and promotion of alcohol advertising, particularly for the protection of younger people, including:
- a legislative framework (including phased-in restrictions to reduce exposure of young people to ads) to regulate alcohol advertising in Australia;
- phased-in restrictions to alcohol sponsorship of major events (including sports);
- phased-in restrictions on alcohol advertising, commencing with restrictions on alcohol advertisements during live sports broadcasts on television.
3. Mandatory nutrition information and warning labels for alcohol products under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
Improving alcohol taxation
Evidence shows that increasing alcohol prices through taxation is effective in reducing alcohol consumption and related harms.(8,9,10) Higher prices through increased taxation reduce overall consumption, heavy or problem drinking and harms to the drinker and others.(10,11,12) A 10% price increase would reduce alcohol consumption by an average of 5%.(13,14,15)
Alcohol taxation is also highly cost-effective. Taxation measures have been estimated to reduce the social costs of alcohol in Australia by between 14 and 39% (or between $2.19 and $5.94 billion in 2004-05 dollars).(16) Alcohol taxation based on alcohol content is also less costly to implement.(17)
The current alcohol taxation system in Australia is inconsistent and falls well short of its potential to address the health and social costs of alcohol – as recognised by the Henry review of taxation in Australia, which recommended alcohol be taxed on the basis of alcohol content at a rate reflecting the social costs of alcohol abuse.
Cancer Council calls for a consistent approach to alcohol taxation based on public health (harm minimisation) principles which moderates drinking to prevent harms as well as raising revenue to recover the social, health and economic costs of alcohol. Alcohol should be taxed according to alcohol content. A minimum price for alcohol should also be introduced.
Advertising restrictions
Studies consistently show that exposure to alcohol advertising and promotion is linked to a significantly increased likelihood that young people will start to drink alcohol and that those who already drink will drink more heavily.(8,10,11,14,18,19) Restricting alcohol advertising and promotion is a cost-effective way to reduce alcohol related harms.(7,10,11,13) Partial or complete bans on alcohol advertising have been estimated to yield benefits of $2.45bn and 3.86bn respectively in Australia.(7)
Sponsorship of sporting and cultural events by alcohol companies should also be restricted, as it provides a major avenue of alcohol promotion in Australia that appeals to young people (8,20) and is linked with harmful drinking.(21,22)
Health information and warning labels on alcohol
Health information and warning labels on alcohol products would increase awareness of alcohol-related harms and should be an important part of a comprehensive strategy to educate the community on safer consumption.
Health information should include facts such as a list of ingredients and nutritional information, including the amount of sugar, kilojoules or any preservatives contained in the product. Warning labels should include advice and recommendations about drinking, including associated harms, based on the 2009 NHMRC guidelines for low-risk drinking.(21)
While research is limited, evidence suggests that warning labels can increase awareness of alcohol-related harms,(23,24,25) in a similar way to the demonstrated effectiveness of health warnings on tobacco products.(26) In addition, alcohol health information and warning labels have strong public support in Australia (27) and would be inexpensive for government to introduce.(27)
References
1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2008, 2008
2. AIHW: Henley G and Harrison JE (2009). Injury deaths, Australia 2004–05. Injury research and statistics series no 51. (Cat. no. INJCAT 127). Adelaide: AIHW
3. Chikritzhs T, Stockwell et al 2007. National Alcohol Indicators Bulletin no 2. Trends in alcohol-related road injury in Australia. National Drug Research Institute. 2007
4. World Health Organisation and International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Volume 44. Alcohol drinking. Summary of data reported and evaluation. 1988
5. World Cancer Research Fund /American Institute for Cancer Research. Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention. Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity: a Global Perspective. Washington DC: AICR, 2009
6. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2005
7. Collins DJ, Lapsley HM. The avoidable costs of alcohol abuse in Australia and the potential benefits of effective policies to reduce the social costs of alcohol. Commonwealth of Australia 2008; 2008.
8. Meier P, Booth A, Stockwell A, Sutton A, Wilkinson A, Wong R, et al. Independent Review of the Effects of Alcohol Pricing and promotion. Part A: Systematic Reviews. The University of Sheffield; 2008. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Healthimprovement/Alcoholmisuse/DH_4001740
9. Anderson P and Baumberg B. Alcohol in Europe: a public health perspective. A report for the European Commission. London: Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2006
10. Chaloupka FJ, Grossman M, et al. The effects of price on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Alcohol Res Health 2002; 26:22-34
11. Babor T, Caetano R, Casswell S, et al. Alcohol: no ordinary commodity – research and public policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
12. World Health Organisation. WHO Expert Committee on Problems Related to Alcohol Consumption: second report. WHO Technical Report Series No. 944. Geneva: WHO, 2007.
13. Fogarty J.The nature of the demand for alcohol: understanding elasticity. British Food J 2006; 108: 316-32.
14. Gallet CA. The demand for alcohol: a meta-analysis of elasticities, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2007; 51: 121-35.
15. Wagenaar AC, Salois MJ and Komro KA. Effects of beverage alcohol price and tax levels on drinking: a meta-analysis of 1003 estimates from 112 studies. Addiction 2009; 104: 179-190.
16. Collins DJ and Lapsley HM. The avoidable costs of alcohol abuse in Australia and the potential benefits of effective policies to reduce the social costs of alcohol. National Drug Strategy Monograph Series No. 70. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2008.
17. Doran C, Vos T, Cobiac L, et al. Identifying cost effective interventions to reduce the burden of harm associated with alcohol misuse in Australia. Canberra: Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, 2008.
18. Hastings G, Anderson S, Cooke E, Gordon R. Alcohol marketing and young people's drinking: a review of the research. J Public Health Policy 2005 Sep;26(3):296-311.
19. Smith LA, Foxcroft DR. The effect of alcohol advertising, marketing and portrayal on drinking behaviour in young people: systematic review of prospective cohort studies. BMC Public Health 2009;9:51
20. Lee J. Alcohol empire strikes back. Sydney Morning Herald 2008 Mar 15.
21. Sandra Jones. ‘An Unhealthy Co-Dependence: The Relationship between Alcohol Sponsorship and Cricket in Australia’. (Paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC) Conference, 2007) 2799.
22. K. O’Brien & K. Kypros ‘Alcohol industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking among sportspeople’ (2008) 102 Addiction 1961, 1962.
23. T. Stockwell, A Review Of Research Into The Impacts Of Alcohol Warning Labels On Attitudes And Behaviour (2006) Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia,
24. Alcohol in Australia: Issues and Strategies A background paper to the National Alcohol Strategy: A Plan for Action 2001 to 2003/04, National Expert Advisory Committee on Alcohol, (2001)
25. T. Babor, et. al. Alcohol: No ordinary commodity – research and public policy. (2003)
26. D. Hammond, et. al. ‘Impact of the graphic Canadian warning labels on adult smoking behaviour’ (2003) 12(4) Tobacco Control, 391.
27. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007 National Drug Strategy Alcohol Survey: State and territory supplement,(2008).