I WRITE with reference to your recent article “Only a minority of drinkers understand links between alcohol and cancer study finds” dated November 21.

Whilst I agree that it’s important for people to understand the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption I worry that the article may have left some readers with an incomplete picture.

Official figures show that alcohol consumption in the UK has fallen over the past decade by 17%, with a 32% fall in harmful drinking among young people and a 61% fall in the number drinking alcohol in the past 5 days.

In addition the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 finds that the overall age-standardised cancer death rate attributed to alcohol use in the UK has fallen by 7.5% since 2005.

While Bournemouth remains an area where indicators for alcohol harm are higher than average it should be acknowledged that since 2008 alcohol specific mortality and admissions to hospital for alcohol specific conditions have fallen by 20% and 25% respectively. Importantly the number of under 18s admitted to hospital for alcohol specific conditions has fallen by 36%.

Harm caused by misuse of alcohol is always serious as is any heightened risk of cancer. However, the data suggests that sensible alcohol consumption carries no greater risk than many everyday activities and that to reduce the risk further adults should avoid smoking, eat well and exercise – and if they do choose to drink alcohol they should do so in moderation and within government guidelines.

DAVE ROBERTS

Director General, Alcohol Information Partnership

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