Cancer report - Frightening truth cannot be ignored

There are a number of shocking aspects to a new report on the occurrence of cancer in women, not least of which is that it has increased by 25% in a little over a decade.

It is also alarmingly obvious that this country is not, and has not, been effective in battling the disease because, apart from Denmark, the death rate from cancer among women here is higher than for other western European countries.

Cancer, in all the forms it takes, is the second most common cause of death for women in Ireland, with about 3,500 succumbing to it every year. The increase in the incidence of the disease is illustrated by the sombre fact that in the region of 74,000 malignant cancers in women will be diagnosed in this year.

Why Ireland should be in such a frightening and unenviable position in relation to this disease must give rise to serious misgivings and result in a serious review of the national approach to it.

The report to be published today by the Women’s Health Council and the National Cancer Registry shows that the likelihood of treatment for cancer and survival from it are related to different socioeconomic backgrounds.

It is totally unacceptable that women - and men - if not actually deterred from seeking diagnostic and treatment services for the simple reason that they come from a disadvantaged background, find that access to that care is not widely available to them.

Being one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, as we are constantly reminded by the Government, it should be intolerable that anyone could be precluded from possibly life-saving treatment simply because they cannot afford it. Such a situation is appalling, as is the fact that older women are much less likely to receive treatment for cancer than women in younger age groups.

Communities throughout the country have been lobbying for years for the provision of cancer screening facilities and this report points to their necessity.

Recently, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) for an implementation plan for a national cervical screening programme.

Next month, apparently, she is to present a progress report on the €25 million programme to the Joint Committee on Health and Children.

Given the seriousness of this report on cancer, the request to the HSE for this screening programme should be conveyed as an urgent instruction. The report has called for this service, as well as a national breast screening programme, to be provided nationally as soon as possible.

It can be of little consolation to women in the west and south of the country that it will be another 12 months before BreastCheck will be rolled out in those regions. Even at that, it only expects to be in a position then to supply the facility.

Without any doubt, today’s report illustrates a frightening situation and one that cannot be ignored by the minister or the Government.

It is imperative that its contents are not just noted, but acted upon with the degree of urgency that they warrant.