A leading charity has called for a clampdown on cheap alcohol and junk food due to a surge in liver cancer deaths. The British Liver Trust states that unhealthy diets have fuelled a 40% rise in fatalities of the disease in the last decade,
Mortality rates have tripled from liver cancer since the early 70’s and it is now the fastest rising cause for cancer deaths in the UK. Trust chief executive Pamela Healy states that ‘The key drivers for the increase in cases and deaths are alcohol and obesity, too many of us are drinking too much alcohol and are overweight. We urgently need government action on both issues.’
It seems that ministers have delayed the introduction of rules banning supermarket multi-buy deals on foods high on fat, sugar and salt. The Association of Directors of Public Health also wants minimum pricing on alcohol similar to the measures introduced in Scotland in 2018. This pioneering minimum pricing policy is linked to a 13% drop in alcohol related deaths and hundreds of fewer hospitalisations.
There are about 6,000 cases of prime liver cancer diagnosed in the UK each year around 16 per day. Liver cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. Only 13 per cent of those diagnosed with primary liver cancer live for five years or longer. The Department of Health says that it is committed to diagnosing 75% of all cancers early at stage 1 or stage 2 by 2028. The plan is to carry out community health checks for those with a high risk of cirrhosis. Obesity costs the NHS £6.5 billion a year and is the second biggest cause of cancer.
