:strip_icc()/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_da025474c0c44edd99332dddb09cabe8/internal_photos/bs/2025/E/Y/EtUzlHSJSDBqVkFPxyAg/2147897109.jpg)
Reducing Daily Alcohol Consumption Could save Over 157,000 Lives in Brazil by 2050, Study Finds
A new report projects that a reduction of just one daily alcoholic drink among Brazilians could prevent an estimated 157,444 deaths by 2050. The findings, based on data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, WHO monitoring of alcohol consumption patterns in Brazil, and mortality projections from the international Agency for Research on cancer (IARC), detail the potential impact of decreased alcohol intake on various cancer types.
The study calculated the fraction of deaths attributable to each simulated scenario of reduced consumption. Researchers emphasize that the results are based on the assumption that the relative risks of developing alcohol-related cancers remain constant over the projected period.
Specifically, reducing one drink per day could save 30,381 lives from bowel cancer, 30,117 from esophageal cancer, 23,663 from lip cancer, 23,031 from breast cancer, 22,312 from “other pharyngeal” cancers, 14,668 from larynx cancer, 10,961 from liver cancer, and 2,311 from nasopharynx cancer.
Further reductions yield even greater benefits. Avoiding 252,106 deaths is projected with a two-drink reduction, and 317,654 deaths could be prevented if Brazilians consume three fewer drinks daily. In the most optimistic scenario, esophageal cancer deaths avoided woudl reach 66,747, stomach cancer 59,252, and lip cancer 47,467.
“The results represent the estimated reduction in cancer assuming that the underlying relative risks of developing the different types of cancer due to alcohol consumption remain constant over the period considered,” the report explains.
