The focus of this year’s European Action on Alcohol Awareness Week is ‘Alcohol and Cancer’.
The aim of the campaign is to highlight the link between drinking alcohol, particularly at a younger age, and the risk of developing cancer later in life.
The facts on alcohol and cancer
- Approximately 900 people in Ireland are diagnosed with alcohol related cancer every year.
- Alcohol can cause 7 types of cancer including mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, breast, liver and colorectal (colon) cancer.
- Drinking in your teens and 20’s can increase your risk of developing cancer later in life.
- For women in their teens and 20’s, drinking regularly can increase the risk of developing breast cancer by 34%.
- 1 in 8 breast cancers are caused by alcohol.
- For Irish men, alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors in mouth, head and neck cancers.
- Those who drink more than two or more standard drinks per day are three times more likely to develop mouth, head and neck cancers, compared with those who don’t drink.
- Over half mouth, head and neck cancers diagnosed in Ireland can be associated with alcohol.
Our campaign, ‘Alcohol & You’ encourages you to consider your relationship with alcohol and how it makes you feel. You can find a range of information on alcohol here, as well as social alternatives so that your weekend doesn’t have to be filled with drinking.
For more information, visit AskAboutAlcohol.ie
