Big Alcohol’s Attack on the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan - A Case Study

Big Alcohol’s Attack on the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan

The Alcohol Issues Podcast – Season 2 Episode 04

This podcast episode is part of Movendi International’s work to promote evidence-based alcohol policy development at all levels and to translate scientific evidence into policy action that protects people and communities from alcohol harm.

Alcohol’s cancer burden in Europe

The products and practices of the alcohol industry cause a massive burden of harm, including cancer. But most people remain unaware of this extent and severity of alcohol harm.

• For instance, in the European Union, in 2016 cancer was the most common cause of alcohol-related deaths at 29%. 
• Alcohol causes 7 types of cancer. 
• Low-dose alcohol consumption levels caused almost 23,000 new cancer cases in the EU in 2017, and accounted for 13.3% of all alcohol-attributable cancers. 
  • Almost half of these (∼11,000 cases) were female breast cancers. 
  • More than a third of the cancer cases due to low-dose alcohol use resulted from a level of <1 standard alcoholic drink per day.

However, despite decades of growing scientific evidence, the general public remains largely unaware about the fact that alcohol causes cancer. One reason why is because Big Alcohol aggressively blocks this knowledge from reaching the public. The alcohol industry uses various strategies to cast doubt about the science but they do more than that: alcohol industry lobbyists interfere against public health policy making that aims to protect people and communities from alcohol harm.

Right now such a battle between corporate profit interest versus people’s health is taking place in the European Parliament.

The guests

This episode is special because it is a conversation about an unfolding policy making story. As such, this conversation chronicles a case study of alcohol industry interference against policy development in the interest of public health and protecting the people in Europe from the harms caused by the products and practices of the alcohol industry.

There’s no better guest to speak to about alcohol industry interference in the European Parliament, than IOGT-NTO – that has a permanent presence in the center of EU policy making. Host Maik Dünnbier talks with Emil Juslin and Runa Neely of IOGT-NTO’s Brussels office.

Emil Juslin is the European Policy Officer at IOGT-NTO and the head of the Brussels office. Runa Neely is the European Liaison Officer at IOGT-NTO.

• Follow Emil Juslin on Twitter: @emiljuslin
• Follow Runa Neely on Twitter: @runaneely
• Follow IOGT-NTO’s Brussels office on Twitter: @Brysselkontoret

S2 E4 Topic

Alcohol causes 7 types of cancer:

1. mouth,
2. throat (pharynx),
3. food pipe (esophagus),
4. voice box (larynx),
5. breast (in women),
6. bowel (colon and rectum), and
7. liver cancer.

For each of these cancers, the more alcohol a person consumes, the higher is their cancer risk. There is no safe amount of alcohol concerning cancer risk.

In the EU in 2016, about 80,000 people died of alcohol-attributable cancer, and about 1.9 million years of life were lost due to premature mortality or due to disability.

Alcohol use is one of the main known risk factors for cancer in the EU; in a recent comprehensive study on risk factors for cancer in France, only tobacco smoking was reported to cause higher cancer incidence. A recent study showed that alcohol use, including low-dose alcohol consumption, continues to cause a considerable cancer burden in Europe.

Both the European Commission and the European Parliament are committed to advancing public health action, including on alcohol, to beat cancer in the EU.

But the alcohol industry is interfering aggressively.

Host Maik Dünnbier talks with Emil and Runa about what is unfolding in the European Parliament.

Emil and Runa explain the background and context of the political process in the European Parliament. And they share inside information about key issues the alcohol industry is pushing to undermine and derail an evidence-based approach to beating cancer in the EU.

They also talk about why the alcohol industry is so aggressively fighting against science and public health action. And Emil and Runa share insights about which alcohol industry actors are the most aggressive in this fight.

This discussion is a case study of alcohol industry interference in real time.

Resources for the episode 

• European Union: Cancer Burden Caused By Low-Dose Alcohol Use
• European Union: Big Alcohol Lobbies Against Alcohol Health Warnings
• Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan Makes Alcohol Policy Key Element of Cancer Prevention
• European Commission: Implementation Roadmap for EU Beating Cancer Plan Published
• Awareness of Alcohol as a Carcinogen and Support for Alcohol Control Policies
• European Parliament Highlights the Role of Alcohol Policy in New Report on Beating Cancer

 

Feedback

Your feedback, questions, and suggestions for future topics and guests is most welcome. Please get in touch at: maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

You are most welcome to follow Movendi International and Maik Dünnbier on Twitter, too.

Listen to the episode

Listen to season 2, episode 04 of the Alcohol Issues Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

• You can find the brand new episode on Apple podcasts, here. 
• You can also listen to the latest episode on Spotify. 
• And you can find episode 19 on Google Podcasts.
• And you can follow the Alcohol Issues Podcast on Podbean, here.

About The Alcohol Issues Podcast

The Alcohol Issues Podcast is an original production by Movendi International. It’s a show about current alcohol issues of global importance. Through in-depth conversations with policy makers, community leaders and scientists, we explore alcohol policy issues, discuss landmark scientific studies, and expose the alcohol industry.