Harney: Resources mismanaged in prostate cancer battle

Minister of Health Mary Harney has declared 2,000 extra consultants are needed to meet demand for treatment for prostate cancer in our hospitals.

More cash should go directly to tackle men’s health, according to cancer specialist Professor John Armstrong, particularly in the diagnoses and treatment of prostate cancer.

The disease is the second most common cancer in men, with one in 14 men diagnosed during their lifetime. There are around 1,370 new cases of prostate cancer every year, resulting in 519 deaths.

“There are not enough neurologists and cancer specialists devoted to prostate cancer in Ireland compared to other countries,” said Prof Armstrong, Chairman of the Irish Cancer Society. “We need more services to diagnose prostate cancer and treat prostate cancer.”

Giving more attention to women’s health care was having a detrimental effect on men, he said, adding in terms of cancer specifically more attention needs to be paid to men’s cancers.

Ms Harney admitted there was a shortage of specialists in the country, but hoped a national screening programme for prostate cancer could one day be rolled out.

“We have greatly increased the number of neurologists in the country in recent years,” she said. “But we have about 2,000 hospital consultants and we need about 4,000 and we have 4,000 junior doctors and we need half of them.

“We are actually spending the money in the wrong way. The plan is to greatly increase the number of consultants right across the different specialities.”

Speaking at the launch of the Irish Cancer Society’s Action Prostate Cancer campaign, which aims to increase men’s understanding of the disease, she continued: “Men are not as good as looking after their health as women are. This campaign is to encourage men to come forward for the blood test to establish whether or not they have any symptoms that may lead to prostate cancer.

“If people are diagnosed, and diagnosed early, the results are fantastic.”

Singer Christy Moore, who lost two close friends to the disease, was among the stars backing the campaign but raised concerns over the length of time medical card holders have to wait from an initial screening to seeing specialists and receiving life-saving treatment.

Calling for an audit of prostate cancer services nationwide, Prof Armstrong admitted it could be months before a patient could see a specialist and even then radiation resources in the country are not adequate to meet the size of the population.

“Sometimes there is delay in accessing the services for a biopsy in the first place, and there is very likely to be a regional imbalance in that access,” he said.

“In parts of Dublin many of the hospitals will have a full multi-disciplinary neurology team for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer but in other parts of the country those services don’t exist.”

FACTS:

:: The prostate is a gland in males that is involved in the production of semen and is located between the bladder and the rectum.

:: The majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer are aged over 50 years and men whose brother or father have developed prostate cancer at a young age have an increased risk.

:: Symptoms vary, but can include passing urine more often, especially at night, pain or difficulty when passing urine, trouble starting or stopping the flow of urine, the feeling of not having emptied your bladder and frequent pain in your lower back, hips, or upper thighs.

:: A standard PSA test involves a blood test that measures the amount of PSA in a man’s bloodstream. Although there is currently no screening programme in Ireland, men over the age of 50 years who have a positive family history of prostate cancer should be examined annually.

For details on the campaign freefone 1800 380380 or email [e-mail]