Just one-quarter of Dubliners regularly carry out simple checks of their bodies for early signs of cancer, according to a new report.
Some 22 per cent never carry out self-checks, while 41 per cent say they sometimes do, the evaluation of a cancer awareness project in the city has ascertained.
The report found that over half of respondents never go to the doctor, or only sometimes attend, when sick.
It wasn't clear if this was for financial or other reasons.
Seven out of every 10 people who attended one of a series of cancer information evenings organised by Dublin City Council and the Health Service Executive in the capital earlier this year said that they now understood cancer better and would be inclined to check for early signs of the disease, according to the evaluation.
It says the information programme, known as Your Health Is Your Wealth, was a success and should therefore be introduced nationally. It also recommends that similar health awareness initiatives be developed around issues such as obesity, cardiac and respiratory health, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Speaking at the launch of the evaluation yesterday, Dr Henrietta Campbell of the All-Ireland Cancer Consortium said both parts of Ireland were "among the worst" in Europe for the incidence of cancer and for cancer care. "We present ourselves for treatment much later than elsewhere and often too late."
More than 21,000 new cancer cases a year are diagnosed in the Republic and 7,800 people will die of the disease. Cancer is predicted to overtake heart disease as the biggest killer in Ireland within the next 19 years.
Prof John Reynolds, director of cancer services at the HSE, said messages about the abuse of cigarettes, alcohol and food had to be communicated repeatedly at all levels. People were unaware that most cancers can be cured - if they are treated early enough.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Vincent Jackson described the prevalence of smoking among young girls as "horrifying". In the west Dublin schools he visited regularly, up to 70 per cent of teenage girls said they smoked, compared to just 20 per cent of boys.
"They all claim to know a granny who's 80 years of age, drinks a bottle of gin a day and smokes 20 fags. The reality, we know, is that such people are a rarity," Mr Jackson said.
