Health News of Thursday, 4 February 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Alcohol is the second biggest cause of cancer – VALD reveals

About 650,000 people die from alcohol-related cancer every year About 650,000 people die from alcohol-related cancer every year

As today marks World Cancer Day, Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) has come out with another lifestyle that leads to the development of cancer.

According to the Director of VALD, Labram Musah after tobacco intake, the second biggest cause of cancer in the world is alcohol.

He noted that 650,000 people die from alcohol-related cancer every year.

Mr Musah in a press statement highlighted that “after tobacco, alcohol is the second biggest cause of cancer – long before other risk factors such as infections, physical inactivity, or sunlight…Alcohol causes 10.3 million cancer disability-adjusted life years lost, representing 4.2% of all cancer disability-adjusted life years lost worldwide in 2016.”

He, therefore, pleaded with the government to implement a policy to regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol in the country.

Mr. Musah also admonished the government to intensify public education on the effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other hard drugs.

VALD’s director stated that, “we call on our government to make cancer prevention a priority by implementing high-impact alcohol policy solutions, such as alcohol taxation.”