Opinion: The industry is using its influence to prevent reform.
As specialists in liver disease, my colleagues and I have seen at first hand the results of the increase in alcohol consumption of recent years. As a nation, we are now drinking twice as much as previous generations, and binge-drinking more frequently than any other European country.
Where once doctors treated older men for liver failure associated with alcohol, we are now seeing men and women in their 30s and 40s dying from liver disease due to alcohol. These patients are frequently unaware that their level of alcohol consumption is putting them at risk of liver failure. Their heavy drinking is commonplace in a country that tolerates excessive drinking and public drunkenness.
In recent years, beer consumption has decreased as many of us have swapped the pint for a glass of wine. This may give the impression that we have adopted a sophisticated, moderate attitude to alcohol consumption. The truth, however, is that the only sophistication in our relationship with alcohol lies in the slick marketing campaigns of alcohol brands.
Indeed, many people are unaware of these facts and some of the other health impacts of alcohol. On average three patients a day die as a result of alcohol and this is probably an underestimate. Recent research shows there is an increased risk of various cancers, even when alcohol is consumed within low risk limits, and this risk increases with the amount consumed. The reported death rate in Ireland from liver cirrhosis has doubled in 20 years.
Alcohol is a significant cause of many cancers. This includes breast cancer, and cancer of the larynx, pharynx, and oesophagus. Alcohol is also a factor in unsafe sex, damage to the foetus during pregnancy, and is linked with suicide. In addition, there are the various family and social problems caused by or made worse by problem alcohol use, including domestic abuse, child abuse and sexual assault.
Source: Frank Murray, Irish Times, 05/06/13
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