Irish drinkers consume 700 times the recommended amount of alcohol needed to prevent cancer.
On average, Irish drinkers consume about 37g of alcohol per day which is more than 700 times the recommended exposure level set by the European Food Safety Authority to prevent cancer from food and drinks.
Alcohol causes one in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 cancers in women - a total of 900 new cancer cases each year in Ireland.
Alcohol consumption can cause cancers of the oral cavity, oesophagus, liver, colon, and rectum in both men and women, and is a cause of breast cancer in women.
Drinking one standard alcoholic drink a day is associated with a 9 per cent increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, while drinking three to six standard drinks a day increases the risk by 41 per cent.
The European Week Against Cancer conference is calling for a ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship.
The Head of Communications with the Irish Cancer Society Kathleen O'Meara says people need to realise the link between cancer and alcohol:
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