Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent bowel cancer by addressing key modifiable risk factors, including alcohol.

The Government and the National Health Service welcome the findings of the World Cancer Research Fund’s report and recognise that a healthy lifestyle can help reduce the biggest risk factors of bowel cancer.

The National Cancer Plan for England, published in February 2026, has patients at its heart and covers the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention and research and innovation. The plan sets out that every patient will receive personalised insights into their personal cancer risk, drawing on NHS, genomic, lifestyle, demographic and wearable data. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years.

The plan builds on the commitment made in ‘Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages, to raise awareness of associated risks of alcohol consumption.

It emphasises prevention by supporting the no- and low-alcohol market and exploring stricter regulations on these products to cut cancer-related deaths including those related to alcohol such as bowel cancer. The plan acknowledges that alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, linked to several cancer types including bowel cancer and aims to build on a shift from "sickness to prevention" by addressing modifiable risk factors like alcohol.

The UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines outline how the risk of developing cancer rises with ongoing regular drinking. As outlined on the NHS page ‘Risks: Alcohol Misuse’, the long-term health conditions that are caused by alcohol consumption include cancers of the liver, mouth, head and neck, breast, and bowel.

From 2026, Cancer Alliances will receive funding and work proactively with local communities and providers to improve early diagnosis rates. They will focus on increasing awareness of cancer symptoms, supporting primary care to spot signs of cancer early, including bowel cancer.