“No doctor or health worker, for ethical and deontological reasons, must favor the consumption of ethanol with statements based on his own opinion or on the selection of individual scientific articles. To date, over 85 thousand clinical and experimental studies have been published and over 90% clearly demonstrate the relationship between alcohol and cancer.” So Gianni Testino, national president of the Italian Alcohol Society (SIA) on the sidelines of the workshop “Consumption of alcoholic beverages and cancer prevention: the state of the art”, which today brought together the top national experts, clinicians and researchers in Genoa, to give a definitive answer to the lawsuit on alcohol and warnings on labels.
The ethanol contained in alcoholic beverages (wine, beer and spirits) – reports a statement released by Sia, which sponsored the event – is carcinogenic even at very low doses. Alcohol is the second leading cause of cancer death. 4-5% of forms of cancer are alcohol related: over 10,000 cases in Italy in 2020; 60% for light-moderate consumption. Furthermore, no type of alcoholic beverage prevents cardiovascular disease. In the light of these data, “it is urgent for public health reasons – Testino says – to follow what Ireland has already done and that is to insert the warning that ‘ethanol promotes cancer’ on alcohol labels. Inform – he concludes – does not mean to prohibit”.
