Study: Alcohol and tobacco policies can reduce cancer deaths

PanARMENIAN.Net - Policies aimed at cutting alcohol and tobacco consumption, including the introduction of random breath testing programs and bans on cigarette advertising, have resulted in a significant reduction in Australian cancer death rates, new research shows, according to Medical Xpress.

The La Trobe Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR) has led the first study into how public health policies on alcohol and tobacco implemented from the 1960s affected cancer deaths in Australia.

Researchers led by La Trobe epidemiologist Dr. Jason (Heng) Jiang, compared cancer mortality data available from the 1950s with historical alcohol and tobacco control policies and 100-years of consumption data.

Dr. Jiang said the results are a century in the making.

"Our research provides new evidence that key public health policies on alcohol and tobacco introduced in Australia from the 1960s to 2013 are related to reductions in mortality rates for various cancers," Dr. Jiang said.

"The changes in mortality rates are measured over 20-year periods and emphasise that the effects of alcohol and tobacco policies cannot be fully evaluated in the short-term.

"It's clear from our findings that the full effect of more recent policies, such as plain cigarette packaging and alcohol content labelling of beverages, may not be known for decades."