Maybe WHO Is Blaming the Wrong Factor for Cancer

The antialcohol extremists at the World Health Organization and their comrades around the world are busy calling for a virtual elimination of alcohol beverage consumption through higher taxes, restricted availability and social scorning.

But maybe they should be directing their concerns to a more fundamental concern: A worldwide decline in marriage rates. A new study in Cancer Research Communications makes it clear that comparing never-married adults with evcr-married adults, never-married adults had higher cancer incidence.

That was true across nearly all major cancer site and racial/ethnic groups. "Never-married Black men had the highest incidence; among ever-married men, Black men had lower rates than White men. Among men, site-specific IRRs reached 5.04 for anal cancer; among women, 2.64 for cervical cancer. Pronounced marital disparities were observed for gynecologic cancers and for cancers linked to infections, tobacco, and alcohol, whereas differences were smaller for breast, thyroid, and prostate cancers. 

As for alcohol use, never-married individuals experienced higher rates for cancers associated with alcohol and tobacco use compared to those who were married at some point. This was specifically noted to hepatocellular carcinoma and esophageal cancer, both of which have known links to alcohol consumption.

So, maybe, WHO and similar "public health" agencies need to spend more time promoting marriage and less time trying to put alcohol out of business.