Alcohol Review – Issue 114, June 20th 2025
Alcohol understanding for all
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In this issue: US alcohol inclusion call; Heart benefits rejected; Lobbyist’s credentials queried; Tax plan Vietnam; New cancer risk identified. Why alcohol is bad injury medicine; US research funding cuts itemised. Man quiz.
Alcohol Review 2025: Watch takeaways and new session highlights from UK public health leader Alice Wiseman on pushing back against the alcohol industry at the local level. Full event recordings now available with the new monthly subscription.
News
Alcohol inclusion: “Alcohol kills more Americans each year than opioids and guns combined,” noted 24 NGOs which called on the Trump administration to make alcohol measures part of its efforts to reduce chronic disease. Alcohol harm reduction has so far been notably absent from US health plans. Alcohol Review this month itemised $31m research funding cuts.
Benefit claim rejected: The European Heart Network NGO formally recognised alcohol as a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and rejected “any claim that alcohol consumption, at any level, offers cardiovascular benefits.” Separately, the American Heart Association took a more hesitant step in the same direction saying, “It remains unknown whether drinking is part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Lobbyist queried: The credentials of the UK’s Night Time Industries Association are questionable, according to an investigation by investigative newsletter Democracy for Sale. Despite this the outfit has been granted high-level ministerial meetings and funds an all-party parliamentary group.
Vietnam tax hike: Vietnam is set to raise tax on alcoholic products over 20% from 65% to 90% by 2031. Tax on products below this strength threshold will rise from 35% to 60%. The WHO welcomed the move, but critics warned it still incentivises stronger products because the tax does not increase with total alcohol content.
Tax harmony: The East African Community agreed to harmonise alcohol excise duty at $6 per litre of alcohol in the product, regardless of the product.
Telling inconsistency: Recent alcohol industry statements show the “essential conflict of interest between alcohol industry economic objectives and public health goals”, said a new report from two leading UK NGOs.
New cancer: A large-scale study found a “modest positive association” between alcohol intake and pancreatic cancer. This suggests an eighth alcohol cancer risk, on top of breast, colorectal, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat (pharynx) and voice box (larynx).
Features
Five reasons to give up alcohol when injured
Current research shows there is no safe threshold of alcohol consumption during injury rehabilitation, according to sports scientist John Kiely, with even low-to-moderate drinking impairing athletic performance and injury recovery.
US research funding cuts itemised
The Trump administration has stopped funding at least 34 alcohol research projects promised $31m, with 58% of the funds still to be paid out, according to statistics collated by Alcohol Review. Around three-quarters of those nixed involve studies of sexual and gender minorities.
Mens health special
Quiz: Can you name the famous men who didn’t drink?
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