Vivek Mercy (SG) and the Public Health Service Corps (PHSCC) have urged the mainstream of the US Medical Service (PHSCC) to make it mandatory by law to put a warning saying “alcohol causes cancer.”
This is due to the fact that alcohol consumption increases the risk of at least seven types of cancer, including breast cancer, colon cancer, and liver cancer, and, contrary to popular belief in the past, causes cancer even with less than one drink a day.
“Alcohol consumption ranks third among preventable cancer causes in the United States, followed by tobacco and obesity,” the U.S. General Counsel said in a statement released with the report, according to the Associated Press.
In the United States alone, the number of cancer cases caused by alcohol consumption is 100,000 every year, and the number of deaths reaches 20,000 every year. The number of deaths from alcohol-related traffic accidents exceeds 13,500 a year.
Compared to abstaining from alcohol when other conditions are the same, five out of 100 women and three out of 100 men develop cancer from drinking.
According to the New York Times (NYT), the U.S. health authorities’ dietary guidelines for decades said that drinking one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men is not harmful to health.
However, as the medical community has changed, it is highly likely that the contents will change when the guidelines are revised, which is scheduled for 2025. However, lobbying by the liquor industry is a variable.
The U.S. General Office of the Medical Service issued a report in 1964 showing that cigarettes cause cancer. The following year, legislation was made to make it mandatory to mark warning signs on cigarettes.
Warnings against alcohol have been mandatory since 1988, and have been implemented without change so far, but the risk of cancer is not mentioned.
If you are pregnant, there are only concerns about birth of deformed babies, poor judgment when driving and operating machinery, and general health risks.
Shares of major liquor companies in Europe and the U.S. fell shortly after the release of the report by General Secretary Mercy. Some companies saw declines of more than 3%.
It is not clear whether the U.S. Congress will accept Mercy’s recommendation to make it mandatory for alcohol to warn against carcinogenesis, and whether the next Donald Trump administration will support such a move.
This is because when the new administration is established, General Mercy will also step down and be replaced by Janet Neschewat.
However, Trump does not even drink, and Robert Kennedy Jr., the nominee for secretary of health and welfare, is likely to be in favor of the alcohol consumption policy, given that he stopped drinking decades ago.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
