It’s no secret that drinking alcohol can affect your health.
However, what most people don’t know is that alcohol use can increase your risk for at least seven types of cancer. In fact, alcohol use contributes to 3.5% of all cancer deaths — and 15% of breast cancer deaths — in the United States every year.
Raising awareness about alcohol and cancer is especially important in Wisconsin. We lead the nation in heavy drinking and binge drinking, and cancers linked to alcohol are common in our state.
April is National Alcohol Awareness Month, with a special focus on alcohol and cancer during the week of April 23-29. Thanks to a proclamation by Governor Evers, April is also Alcohol Awareness Month in Wisconsin. We invite you use the following resources to learn more and raise awareness about the alcohol-cancer connection this month and beyond.
Explore these Wisconsin Cancer Collaborative alcohol and cancer resources.
| Small Talks Alcohol and Cancer Partner Toolkit The Partner Toolkit has everything organizations need to raise awareness of the alcohol-cancer connection in communities including social media posts, newsletter templates, media talking points, and more. |
| Alcohol and Cancer Infographic This simple yet powerful infographic helps introduce audiences to the basic facts about alcohol and cancer in Wisconsin. Perfect for sharing online, or print it and post in your office, school, or clinic. Available in English and in Spanish. |
| Alcohol and Cancer FAQ Use this FAQ to start important conversations with patients, clients, and community members and to answer ten common questions about the alcohol-cancer connection. |
We’ve also curated a round-up of partner resources to support your alcohol and cancer awareness activities.
- Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project
- The Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project provides training, tools and technical assistance to municipalities, law enforcement, public health and community groups working to improve the alcohol environment and reduce alcohol-related problems. They work with communities to implement evidence-informed policies that can reduce underage and binge drinking.
- Alcohol Awareness Toolkit
- This toolkit by the Prevention Technology Transfer Center Network contains resources to raise awareness about alcohol-related harms and the importance of strong alcohol policies using memes, and to encourage engagement from prevention and public health stakeholders to strategically educate and inform decision makers about effective alcohol policies by providing easy-to-personalize, templated opinion editorials, letters to legislators and proclamations.
- Small Talks: How WI Prevents Underage Drinking
- Small Talks is a DHS sponsored campaign that aims to reduce underage drinking by encouraging parents to have multiple short, casual conversations with their kids about alcohol. The campaign includes a wide variety of resources for both caregivers and community partners.
- Alcohol Policy Webinar Series
- This three part webinar series focuses on preventing underage drinking and excessive drinking through alcohol policies.
| See how this connects to the Wisconsin Cancer Plan: | Chapter 2: Risk Reduction |