Calls for clearer labels on health risks of alcohol

The AMA has joined the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and the RACGP to call for health warnings on alcohol.

FARE conducted a national poll that found 78 per cent of those polled supported health warnings on alcohol products on the risks of liver disease, alcohol poisoning and poor mental health.

Professor Robson said, “the AMA has been calling for many years for alcohol products to have simple, clearly visible front-of-pack labels that warn consumers of the health risks of excess consumption”.

“We know the harm alcohol does to people’s health. Self-regulation and voluntary codes are not working. We need serious measures to tackle the health, social and economic harms of excess alcohol consumption.

“Warning labels on the effects of alcohol can help consumers make better choices, improving their health and reducing the pressures on the health sector that are directly related to excessive drinking.”

Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education CEO Caterina Giorgi said health warning labels on alcohol are important at a time when harms from alcohol are increasing. 

“We have just seen the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that deaths caused directly by alcohol have increased for the fourth consecutive year to hit their highest level in more than a decade,” Ms Giorgi said. 

“Every one of these deaths represents the loss of a member of our community, someone with family and friends who have been left devastated by a preventable loss of life.

“Clear information about the harm alcohol causes to people’s health and wellbeing needs to be presented on these products’ labels, to counter the relentless alcohol company marketing we in the community are exposed to every day.”