Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States following tobacco use and obesity.

Alcohol consumption contributes to roughly 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 deaths each year.

And a new advisory out today from the U.S. Surgeon General says alcoholic beverages should have a warning label about those risks.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy joins us now to discuss. Welcome back to the News Hour.

Great to say. Thanks so much, Hama. Good to be with you again.

There's a few things that really stood out to me from your findings. I just want to tick through

them for our audience here. Number one, alcohol consumption you found increases the risk of

at least seven types of cancer. Over 16% of all

breast cancer cases in the U.S. in 2019 were alcohol related, and only 45% of American adults

are aware that consuming alcohol increases the risk of developing cancer. How did those numbers

strike you when you came across them?

And why is awareness of this link so low?

Well, it was very striking for me when I saw this data. And it became very clear to me that

we have to tell people what the data is telling us and has been telling us more and more firmly

for years, which is that there is a causal link between alcohol

consumption and cancer risk.

And we put out this advisory calling not only for more public education, but for a change

to the alcohol warning label.

There's a Surgeon General's warning on alcohol bottles, which currently warns people about drinking

while they're pregnant and about driving or operating

having machinery after having, you know, alcohol.

And those two things have actually soaked into, you know, the general understanding of what

...