The above article appeared in the local Hong Kong English language newspaper .. THE STANDARD .. on Monday, December 21, 2015.
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Warning labels needed on booze, say doctors
Health warning labels on alcoholic drinks should be required to lower deaths from booze-related disease and accidents, the Hong Kong Medical Association urged yesterday.
"The practice of health warning labels is widely adopted in Western countries and even the mainland." association president Louis Shih Tai-cho said. "The government and alcohol retailers should also take this as a responsible first step to ultimately lower the number of patients and deaths caused by drinking alcohol."
Shih said the standard drinking measure guideline - printed in Chinese - should at least be included on a label together with warning slogans like those that are now compulsory on cigarette packaging.
A safety standard for daily intake of red wine with 12 percent alcohol could be "100 milliliters for women, 200 for me." he said.
The association also said tax should be imposed on red wine and beer, which are currently exempted from duties.
"Young people are the most sensitive on price changes. Imposing tax on these drinks could change the addictive or regular alcohol consumption pattern." said Shih, who dismissed claims that drinking can be good for health.
"No medical association would ever encourage people to drink." he said.
Shih added he was one of the victims of the mistaken belief, after proposing "wine dinner" activities for association doctors around a decade ago, but stopped them two years ago.
"Pregnant women should stay away from alcohol completely." he said, adding that women should stop drinking a year before conceiving to avoid fetal alcohol syndrome.
Drinking alcohol is now classified by the World Health Organization to be a direct cause of six kinds of cancer.
KINLINGLO
I wish you all a ..
HAPPY SOBER NEW YEAR 2016 !!
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