A leading expert in the field of cervical cancer has called for the introduction of a nationwide cancer programme which, he says, would result in a decrease in the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer in Ireland.
Dr. Euphemia McGoogan told the first national conference on screening that the invasive cervical cancer rate in Ireland is one of the highest in western Europe and that, in order to achieve an 80% reduction in cervical cancer, there is a need for an organised population health based programme.
Such a programme would have the potential to save the lives of more than 60 women each year, according to Dr McGoogan.
Dr Harry Comber, Director of the National Cancer Registry, told the conference that the most plausible explanation for death rates from cervical cancer in the Republic of Ireland exceeding those in all regions in Britain and Northern Ireland is the absence of a population based screening programme.
In an examination of trends in cervical mortality between 1970 and 2000 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, Dr Comber found that mortality from cancer of the cervix has been declining in the UK for at least the past 30 years.
"The rate of decrease has been greatest in England, Scotland and Wales and has accelerated in these countries since the re-organisation of screening services in the late 1980’s. By contrast, cervical cancer mortality in the Republic, which does not have a comprehensive population-based screening programme, has been increasing by an average of 1.5% per year since 1978."