Public ‘must wake up’ to cancer risk from excessive drinking

The public needs to wake up to the cancer risks posed by excessive drinking as it puts people as much at risk of the disease as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity or UV radiation, according to an international acclaimed addiction expert.

The National Cancer Control Programme says that over half of alcohol-related cancers could be prevented if Irish adults took the weekly guidelines for low-risk alcohol consumption seriously.

Under the guidelines, women can drink 11 standard drinks a week, and men 17.