You can now track your alcohol consumption with Amazon Alexa

Cancer Research UK has teamed up with Amazon to develop a new skill for the online retailer’s voice-activated digital assistant Alexa, allowing users to track their alcohol consumption using the device.

Amazon Alexa is a cloud-based voice service that powers devices including Amazon Echo and Echo Dot.

The My Alcohol Tracker* Skill has been launched to alcohol awareness week, from Monday 13th November, and is intended to help raise awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer.

Alexa users are prompted to set a goal and can choose to drink no more than the recommended guideline amount of 14 units a week, or set their own limit. It doesn’t matter if users want to change it, they can do so at any time.

My Alcohol Tracker will let you use voice commands to quickly update your alcohol consumption, for example: “Alexa, ask my alcohol tracker to add one pint of beer.”

Depending on how much alcohol the user has consumed, they’ll receive messages of encouragement letting them know how they’re doing in relation to the limit they set. The Skill also includes advice on how to cut down as well as signposting users to more detailed information on the Cancer Research UK website.

In addition to monitoring units of alcohol, users can also track how many calories their drinks contain and what that equates to in doughnuts.

“As a charity, we recognise that technology will play a continually important part in helping us to beat cancer sooner,” said Michael Docherty, director of digital at Cancer Research UK. “Alcohol increases the risk of seven types of cancer, but awareness of the link is very low. My Alcohol Tracker uses voice recognition technology to help people get a better idea of what they are drinking, as well as providing helpful hints and tips on cutting down.”

It is widely known that excessive alcohol consumption can increase the risk of some cancers, with recent research published by Cancer Research UK indications that too much alcohol can contribute to the cause of seven different types of cancer, including breast, mouth and bowel.

However despite the risks the number of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK in 2016 remains unchanged since 2013, but continue to be concentrated in the poorest areas of the country.

Global alcohol consumption in decline

According to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK in 2016 was 7,327 – the equivalent of 11.7 deaths per 100,000 of population.

The overall global drinks market shrunk by 1.3% in 2016, according to the IWSR.

This is, more or less, unchanged since 2013 but represents a very small increase from 2015. The rate is still higher than in 2001 when the rate was 10.6 deaths per 100,000 but is also substantially down from the peak in 2008 when deaths hit 12.7 per 100,000.

In general, alcohol consumption is in decline, with the rate actually increasing in pace, according to the IWSR. In 2016, the global market for alcoholic drinks shrunk by 1.3%, compared with an average rate of 0.3% in the previous five years.

Despite an overall decline of global alcohol consumption, the IWSR predicts that this trend will reverse in the next five years, forecasting consumption to rise by 0.8% until 2021.

The Cancer Research UK Alcohol Tracker Skill can also be enabled in the Alexa app, or by saying “Alexa, enable the My Alcohol Tracker Skill.”