A new report has highlighted the growing toll across Europe from excessive consumption of alcohol.
A commission of experts, and the medical journal, The Lancet, argue that the time has come for tougher action - including far higher taxes on both alcohol and unhealthy food.
Professor Frank Murray, Chair European Health Alliance on Alcohol, and co-author of the report, described the scale of liver disease across the continent as "absolutely enormous".
He said that an estimated 300,000 people die every year from liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, which equates to around 780 deaths a day, and the biggest single cause is alcohol followed by ultra-processed foods.
He said there is a "very big drive" in the report's recommendations "to take public health measures to reduce the harms due to these products".
Professor Murray said that among the recommendations of what governments should do is implement "evidence-based policies" to reduce the harms of alcohol and ultra-processed foods.
He said these are polices are "clearly well known," and there are "proven solutions" to many of the problems but they are not being implemented.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One Prof Murray said: "A key recommendation is that the impact of industry - which has been very harmful in terms of the alcohol industry in particular - should be excluded from all public health discussions around those topics, that would be absolutely critical.
"A second argument is that we should align taxes on alcohol and ultra-processed foods or unhealthy foods to the economic burdens that they impose."
"It seems quite unjust that the state bears all of the harms of the alcohol and unhealthy food industries while these industries are making enormous profits," Professor Murray said.
He said the deferrment in Ireland until September 2028 of alcohol health warning labels, that were due to be introduced from 22 May 2026, happened "at the behest of the alcohol industry, which put intense pressure on the government".
He said it was a "terrible shame...that the [drinks] industry got its way" in getting the introduction of the warning labels postponed as there is "good deal of evidence" that the labels work.
"They [health labels] sensitize people to what the harms are and help reflect upon their use of that product."
Listen: Professor Frank Murray, Chair European Health Alliance on Alcohol speaks to RTÉ's News at One
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Alcohol Action Ireland CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said the report shows that the delay in the intriduction of mandatory labelling of alcohol products in Ireland will not be "consequence-free" for some people.
"Along with the impact on liver disease, in the period of the delay more than 2,000 people in Ireland will have been diagnosed with cancer caused by alcohol. This includes some of the most common cancers in Ireland such as breast and bowel cancer with one in every eight breast cancers arising from alcohol.
"There will also be upwards of 10,000 babies born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), which is a completely preventable neuro-developmental condition that has lifelong implications and is estimated to cost the Irish exchequer €2.4 billion a year in terms of service need. Labels are crucial to efforts to reduce incidences of cancer, liver disease and FASD in Ireland and indeed to change the conversation about this product which is heavily marketed as risk-free and essential to everyday living. What is essential is that there are no further delays to labelling’s implementation," she Dr Gilheany said.
