The Government and the National Health Service recognise that a healthy lifestyle can help reduce the biggest risk factors of certain cancers. The Government welcomes the recent publication of the World Cancer Research Fund's 2025 report.

The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines and the NHS webpage on the risks of alcohol, clearly state that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing seven types of cancer, including breast cancer.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) collects patient data on cancer, congenital anomalies and rare diseases. The NDRS does not collect data on the causes of cancer. Therefore, the Department has not made a formal assessment on the annual cost to the NHS of treating breast cancer cases in the United Kingdom that are attributable to alcohol consumption.

The National Cancer Plan for England, which will be published in the new year, will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to reduce risk factors. The plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention. This will include alcohol consumption, alongside other risk factors, given alcohol is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer, including breast cancer.

The National Health Service regularly shares information online through the NHS.UK website and on social media about how to access emergency services properly, including accident emergency, 999, 111, general practices (GPs), and pharmacies. The NHS also shares this information through out of home advertising via leaflets and posters in hospitals, GPs, and pharmacies.

The Government is also overhauling the NHS App to make it easier than ever before for patients to take control of their personal healthcare, including the use of NHS 111 online to answer questions and get instant advice or medical help near you.

Independent schools have a statutory duty to teach personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, under the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

Independent schools have discretion over how they teach health education, but they are encouraged to read the statutory curriculum for health education, which is part of the statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The guidance sets out that pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and the associated risks to physical and mental wellbeing, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking.

Independent schools are subject to the relationships and sex education aspects of the RSHE statutory guidance, which is clear that pupils in secondary schools should understand how the use of alcohol and drugs can lead to risky sexual behaviour. The guidance also sets out that pupils should understand the law on criminal exploitation, including through involvement with gangs or ‘county lines’ drugs operations.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The statutory curriculum for health education requires all pupils in state-maintained schools to be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and the associated risks to physical and mental wellbeing, including smoking, alcohol use and drug taking. This complements content about substances within the national curriculum for science. Schools can teach about the dangers of taking ketamine in these lessons.

In further education (FE) and higher education (HE) the government works through sector bodies and partner organisations.

The government supports activity by universities, sector bodies and other partners to discourage substance abuse by young people in further and higher education and to raise awareness of the harms of illicit drugs.

For HE, Universities UK set up a Drugs Taskforce that published its recommendations in late 2023. The recommendations are attached and available at the following link: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/field/downloads/2024-06/Enabling-student-health-and-success.pdf. As autonomous institutions, HE providers are responsible for their own policies in relation to illegal drugs as the government has no remit to intervene.

In FE the Association of Colleges ‘Take back our Streets’ mission works to educate FE students by hosting charity talks on the dangers of drugs and addiction and works with organisations to build students’ trust and confidence in the police. The ‘Take back our Streets’ mission is available here: https://www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaigns-parliament/mission-accepted/mission-three-take-back-our-streets.

Drug-related deaths are tragically at record highs, especially in deprived areas. We are committed to tackling this problem through working across health, policing, and wider public services. For example, we recently took legislative action to expand access to naloxone, meaning more services and professionals are able to supply this life-saving opioid overdose antidote medication.

In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.

Alcohol-specific deaths are also at the highest rates on record, having increased dramatically during the pandemic. Through our mission-driven Government, we will prioritise actions targeted at reversing this trend. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, over £30 million of national funding has been invested between 2019 and 2025, on an ambitious programme to establish new, or optimise existing, Alcohol Care Teams (ACTs) in the 25% hospitals with the highest need, which is 47 out of 188 eligible sites in England. ACTs identify people in hospital whose ill health is related to alcohol use, commence treatment for alcohol dependence, and refer to community alcohol treatment on discharge.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. In light of the recent data, this plan will be reviewed to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths, and is responding to these. In addition, earlier this year the Department published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths and near-fatal overdoses to prevent future deaths. This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-drug-and-alcohol-deaths-partnership-review-process

Through our Health Mission, the Government has committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to understand how best to reduce alcohol-related harms. The OHID, with the support of partners from the devolved administrations, has developed the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment, which are expected to be published in the coming months. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice and improve quality of service provision, resulting in better outcomes.

Education on drug use is an essential part of harm reduction and prevention and is a statutory component of relationship, sex, and health education in England. Lesson plans and other resources to support teachers are being updated, and there will be increased emphasis on the risks of synthetic drugs. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop the lesson plans on alcohol and drugs, and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year. The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing information and increasing awareness for young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information on Talk to FRANK is available at the following link:

https://www.talktofrank.com/

The Department for Education’s statutory guidance, Relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education, became mandatory in September 2020. Through this, education on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco became compulsory at state-funded primary and secondary schools, teaching children and young people how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe.

The Government also has an information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce the use of substances and their harms, by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.talktofrank.com

Guidance from England’s Chief Medical Officer for healthcare professionals is clear, that an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option. The Department promotes these through online platforms such as NHS.UK website, the Talk to FRANK online resource, and the GOV.UK website. Local authorities promote these guidelines as part of their public health duties.

The Department is actively monitoring, and responding to, the continued threat posed by the growing levels of potent synthetic opioids in the United Kingdom. We are working to increase awareness of the dangers of synthetic opioids. The Government’s drug information and advice service, Talk to FRANK, aims to reduce drug misuse and its harms by increasing awareness among young people and parents. Information on synthetic opioids and the danger of their misuse is available at the following link:

https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/synthetic-opioids

Education on drug use is also a statutory component of relationships and sex education and health education in England. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the Department for Education have commissioned lesson plans and other resources to support teachers in delivering quality drug prevention interventions. The lesson plans target primary and secondary students, teaching them how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. These resources are being updated, and will have an increased emphasis on the risks of synthetic drugs.

The health advice is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. Vaping can play a role in helping adult smokers to quit, but the number of children using vapes has tripled in the past three years, and a staggering 20.5% of children had tried vaping in March to April 2023

Drugs education is a mandatory component of the Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education curriculum taught in schools. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has commissioned the PSHE Association to publish teaching resources for schools on drug and alcohol use, and vaping. These resources are in the process of being updated, and there will be increased emphasis on the risks of synthetic drugs, including vapes.

Information on the dangers of using THC vapes is available on FRANK, the Government’s drug information and advisory website, which signposts users to support services and provides an around the clock and free-to-use confidential helpline, text and email message services, and an online chat.

Where there are incidents of synthetic cannabinoids in THC vapes, it is for the local authority public health team and the police force to take appropriate actions to warn and protect their at-risk populations, supported by regional teams.

The Government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable and at risk from alcohol misuse, as well as raising awareness of its harms. To keep health risks at a minimum, the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officer’s low risk drinking guidelines recommend not regularly exceeding 14 units a week. The guidelines have been developed on the basis that people have a right to accurate information and clear advice about alcohol and its health risks.

The Department continues to promote the guidelines in England through online platforms, and by encouraging producers to reflect the guidelines on the labels of alcoholic drinks. Local authorities also continue to promote these guidelines as part of their public health duties.