Red wine ‘doesn’t protect heart’

VICHEALTH

Coinciding with the 19 September 2011 United Nations (UN) meeting on non-communicable diseases, the Alcohol Policy Coalition (APC) has released a paper challenging the commonly-held belief that red wine is beneficial for preventing cardiovascular disease.  “After reviewing all the scientific evidence, it appears any positive effects of alcohol in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease have been hugely overestimated. In particular, red wine has no special, protective qualities related to cardiovascular disease,” said Kathy Bell, CEO of Heart Foundation (Victoria). “The Heart Foundation does not recommend red wine or other alcoholic drinks to prevent or treat cardiovascular disease. Drink no more than two standard drinks daily to reduce your lifetime risk of alcohol-related harm.” More than half of all alcohol-related deaths globally are from cardiovascular disease, cancer or liver cirrhosis. For the second time in its history, the UN is convening a high-level meeting to address the problem of non-communicable diseases, including those caused by alcohol consumption (the only other high-level meeting to tackle a health issue was in 2001, when the focus was AIDS and HIV). On a global scale, 545,000 people died of alcohol-related cardiovascular disease in 2004. In Australia, five per cent of all cancers are caused by alcohol, including one in five breast cancers. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows a sharp increase in wine consumption in Australia. “It’s no surprise that wine consumption has gone up – price influences consumption and wine is taxed by value not alcohol content. So when Australians can buy cask wine for less than soft drink, it’s little surprise we have a $15billion drinking problem on our hands,” said Todd Harper, CEO of Cancer Council Victoria. “But there is something the Government can do to help fix the problem - with an effective alcohol tax, Australia can lead the world in reducing alcohol related diseases, including heart disease and cancer.” The Australian Government is reviewing Australia’s taxation next month and this will be the perfect opportunity to develop a system to tax drinks based on alcohol content with a premium price for more harmful products. “At the moment, alcohol taxation in Australia is inconsistent and confusing. We know that by taxing alcohol by volume we can reduce drinking to safer levels, which will have a marked effect on heart disease and cancer rates.” The UN Summit will be held in New York on 19-20 September 2011. The APC’s paper, titled Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease and Alcohol Consumption is available for download from www.alcoholpolicycoalition.org.au  Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.