PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Nearly 75% of women in the United States are unaware that drinking alcohol could impact their chances of breast cancer.
According to the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), alcohol can increase the risk of breast cancer in women by 7% to 16%. They launched the campaign #drinklessforyourbreasts to raise awareness.
Spearheading the campaign is Priscilla Martinez, PhD, a scientist at ARG.
“We’ve known for a long time that alcohol is a risk factor for breast cancer. The World Health Organization declared alcohol a carcinogen in 1988,” Martinez said. “There has never been a campaign in the United States to let women know that alcohol use is a risk factor for breast cancer.”
Martinez said the correlation is direct.
“The more you drink, the higher your risk. The less you drink, the lower your risk,” Martinez said.
The campaign is dubbed #drinklessforyourbreasts, and the message says just that.
“The goal of this campaign is to let young women know that alcohol can impact their breast health, and so to think about it when they’re drinking and to try to drink a little less,” Martinez said. “This isn’t a drinking intervention campaign, we just wanna raise awareness about this link because most women don’t know about it.”