The Irish community in Britain has the highest rate of cancer in the country, according to new figures. Cultural differences, as well as diet and lifestyle, are possible reasons. Mary McCarney reports.
Researchers have embarked on a major new study to try to discover why Britain's Irish population has the highest cancer rate in the country. Figures from Cancer Research UK reveal that both first and second-generation Irish men and women have a far greater incidence of certain cancers than other indigenous and ethnic groups.
Compared to all men in England and Wales, first-generation Irish men have: a 127 per cent greater death rate from oral cancer, 132 per cent higher from larynx cancer and 50 per cent higher from lung cancer. Among Irish women, death rates from cancer of the larynx are 82 per cent higher than the average for women in England and Wales, 27 per cent higher from colon cancer and 45 per cent from oral cancer. There are also more cases of stomach, oesophagus, cervix and rectum cancer.
Experts believe various factors are contributing to the high incidence and death rates in the community. Seeromanie Harding from the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow explains: "Diet and lifestyle differences could be responsible for the disparity in incidence rates. The prevalence of smoking for example, which is a major cause of cancer, is higher in the Irish community than among others living in England and Wales."
Researchers also suspect that lack of awareness about the early signs of cancer and gaps in health education may account for such high rates, particularly as a large number of cancer deaths in the Irish community are attributed to late-stage tumours.
Deirdre Cregan, manager of Haringey Irish Community Care Centre in London agrees: "Some older Irish people do not access primary health care until they are in a critically ill situation. From my experience, this may be due to deferential attitudes to GPs, fear, suspicion, lack of information, pride . . . and also the fact that families in rural Ireland called out the doctor only when they absolutely had to. Another factor may be the influence of religious attitudes such as an acceptance of and resignation to suffering as God's will."
Cregan believes there is a need for more cultural sensitivity within the UK medical profession. "There is a lack of understanding of Irish idiomatic speech. Irish people tend to understate problems, possibly because of a sense of privacy. The ability to extract information, and pick up on possible indications that a person is not as well as they imply, is extremely important."
Jean King, director of Education Funding at Cancer Research UK, says: "Cultural differences between the Irish and their counterparts may mean health campaigns that are successful in one community may not be apt in another."
The latest study will be funded by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK, the world's largest independent cancer research organisation dedicated to investigating the causes of cancer, developing treatment and supporting victims.
The study team concedes that currently very little is known about the health knowledge of the Irish community or their uptake of healthcare services.
Harding says: "Generally, the Irish have been grouped with the English and this may have led to a neglect of their health needs. It is important to address the issue, especially in terms of cancer."
Researchers began selecting Irish people from London, Manchester and Glasgow during the summer, and hope to complete the project within 10 months. A comparison group of non-Irish citizens will match the occupational status, age and gender of the Irish volunteers. Beliefs, health knowledge and experiences of both groups will be studied, along with Irish migration and regional differences in cancer survival rates.
As lead researcher, Harding hopes to gain an understanding of why current health campaigns may be failing to make an impact on the Irish community. "From the results of the study," she explains, "we should be equipped to adapt or develop new promotional cancer prevention material to reflect the ideas, attitudes and situations commonly experienced by the Irish."