Slovakia’s Alcohol Use and Cancer Rates: New OECD Data Highlights Need for Enhanced Prevention
The Slovak Republic faces a significant cancer burden, with both incidence and mortality rates surpassing European Union (EU) averages. A notable contributor to this health challenge is the country’s alcohol consumption patterns.
A new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) profile identifies strengths, challenges and specific areas of action on cancer prevention and care as part of the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, a flagship initiative of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. It provides a short synthesis of:
- the national cancer burden;
- risk factors for cancer (focusing on behavioural and environmental risk factors);
- early detection programmes; and
- cancer care performance (focusing on accessibility, care quality, costs and quality of life).
Elevated Cancer Rates
According to the OECD’s “Country Cancer Profile 2025,” the age-standardised cancer incidence rate in the Slovak Republic stands at 596 new cases per 100,000 population, approximately 5% higher than the EU average.
Mortality rates are also concerning, with 293 deaths per 100,000 population, making it the third highest in the EU. Particularly alarming are the rates for colorectal and cervical cancers, which are substantially higher than EU averages.
Alcohol Burden in Slovakia
The same report highlights that alcohol consumption in Slovakia is higher than in other EU countries. This elevated consumption is a significant risk factor for seven types of cancer, including those of the liver, breast, and colorectum.
Alcohol consumption is high in Slovakia at 10 litres per capita annually in 2022.
In 2019, almost 4000 lost their lives due to alcohol, according to World Health Organization data.
Alcohol Policy Measures and Challenges
In response to these challenges, the Slovak Republic introduced the National Oncology Programme in 2018, aiming to reduce cancer incidence and mortality. However, the OECD report indicates that investments in preventive care have decreased, from 4.7% of health spending in 2010 to just 1.0% in 2020, which is notably lower than the EU average of 3.4%. This decline underscores the need for enhanced preventive measures, particularly in addressing alcohol consumption.
According to OECD Strategic Public Health Planning (SPHeP) modelling work, there is big potential for cancer prevention through alcohol policy. Meeting alcohol targets would further reduce the number of cancer cases between 2023 and 2050 by about 8,329.
For alcohol, the target is a reduction of at least 20% in overall alcohol consumption and a 20% reduction in heavy alcohol use (six or more alcoholic drinks on a single occasion for adults) between 2010 and 2030.
Slovakia was the first EU country to implement minimum unit pricing – a policy measure that establishes a mandatory floor price per unit of alcohol. This type of policy has been shown to be effective in reducing overall alcohol consumption, with a larger impact on low-income populations.
But the other alcohol policy best buys are still absent and the Slovak government has potential to prevent and reduce the cancer burden through raising alcohol taxes in a public health approach, reducing alcohol availability, and banning alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion.
Conclusion
The correlation between higher alcohol consumption and increased cancer rates in the Slovak Republic highlights the urgency for improved prevention policies. Implementing population-level alcohol policy solutions to achieve the goal of reducing alcohol consumption in Slovakia by 20% is an essential step with significant potential for cancer prevention and for improving public health outcomes.