Urban dwellers are up to 15 per cent more likely to get cancer than people in rural areas, statistics published yesterday show.
They also show that women in the Republic have Europe's highest rate of cancer of the oesophagus. Irish people have a 1-in-3 chance of developing cancer by the age of 74, according to the figures.
The all-Ireland cancer statistics were published by the National Cancer Registry and the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry.
The report was introduced in Dublin by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Micheal Martin, and by Northern Ireland's Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Ms Bairbre de Brun. This is the first report of its kind and is based on cancer statistics for 1994 to 1996.
It shows that urban populations have 10 per cent higher rates of cancer in females and 15 per cent in males.
The difference is particularly striking for lung cancer. Women in the larger urban areas are 77 per cent more likely to get lung cancer than other women. For men the figure is 68 per cent.
High levels of smoking by people on low incomes living in cities and the bigger towns, and exposure to passive smoking, are the principal causes of the urban-rural divide in this instance, the report suggests.
Smoking may also explain some differences in the incidence of cancer North and South.
Lung cancer and cancer of the lip, mouth and pharynx are significantly higher in Northern Ireland than in the Republic. Many of the differences between North and South were insignificant and based on very small numbers, but Ms Anna Gavin of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry said the significant differences tended to be in tobacco-related cancers.
The figures also show striking differences between cancer rates in Ireland and in the European Union.
In women the rate of cancer of the oesophagus is 6.1 per 100,000 women in the Republic compared with a European Union average of 2.2 per 100,000. For men the rate is 11.7 per 100,000 in the Republic compared with an EU average of 9.5.
The chance of anyone developing cancer by the age of 74 is one in three. If the rarely fatal non-melanoma skin cancers are excluded the chance falls to one in four.
The report says the chance of dying of cancer by the age of 74 is one in eight for females and one in six for men.
Both Ministers stressed the importance of preventive measures such as giving up smoking and including fresh fruit and vegetables in one's diet.
Europa Donna Ireland, which campaigns for better breast cancer services, said survival rates in the Republic could be improved by the implementation of plans for the provision of 13 specialist breast cancer units over the next five years.
An agreement between the two Departments of Health on this island and the National Cancer Institute of the United States is likely to see more Irish hospitals involved in testing new drugs and new combinations of drugs, Mr Martin announced yesterday.
pomorain@irish-times.ie
The full report can be downloaded from the website of the Ireland-Northern Ireland National Cancer Institute at www.allirelandnci.org