Cancer care - Changes to system most welcome

Yesterday Health Minister Mary Harney announced the location of the eight specialist cancer treatment centres, which promise to provide the most up-to-date treatment for cancer patients.

Population, not geography, was the main factor in the selection of those locations. Each of the eight venues is designed to serve about 500,000 people.

Four broad regions were selected. The south is to be covered by centres in Cork and Waterford; the west by centres in Limerick and Galway, while the midlands and part of Dublin are to be served by two locations in Dublin, and the north-east and the remainder of Dublin by two other centres in the capital. As Donegal is particularly isolated within a new set-up, a special outreach centre is being provided in Letterkenny.