Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 2

Written Answers. - Causes of Death.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

141 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the known number of patients who died from various forms of cancer in the past three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5888/98]

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

142 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the known number of patients who died from coronary complaints in the past three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5889/98]

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

143 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the known number of patients who died from cerebral haemorrhage in the past three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5890/98]

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

156 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children whether incidents of particular life threatening illness, including cancer or heart conditions, are more prevalent to any particular region in the country; if statistics are available which may be useful in identifying any trends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6000/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 141, 142, 143 and 156 together.

The information requested by the Deputy in the first three questions is set out in the table below. Data on mortality are routinely published in the annual and quarterly reports on vital statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office.

Number of Deaths from Selected Cancers, Ischaemic Heart Disease and Intracerebral Haemorrhage, 1994 to 1996*

Cause of Death	1994	1995	1996
All Cancers	7,343	7,463	7,306
Cancer of the Stomach	410	418	393
Colorectal Cancer	910	960	879
Cancer of the Trachea,	1,538	1,553	1,480
Bronchus & Lung
Cancer of the Female Breast	657	642	632
Cancer of the Cervix Uteri	58	69	82
Leukaemia	182	184	209
Ischaemic Heart Disease	7,791	7,741	7,605
Intracerebral Haemorrhage	258	249	217

*All figures are provisional based on year of registration.

Source: Central Statistics Office.

With respect to cancer incidence, age-standardised data by area of residence and type of neoplasm have recently become available in the first annual report of the National Cancer Registry. The report refers to 1994 which is the first year for which full registration of all cancers in the country was undertaken. Prior to 1994, the southern tumour registry collected and published population based incidence data relating to Cork and Kerry.

The report of the National Cancer Registry shows considerable variation in incidence rates for different regions depending on the type of cancer. When several years' data are available, it will then be possible to construct and interpret time trends in cancer incidence. The report provides data by county and shows that the highest overall incidence of cancer occurs in County Dublin. My Department has asked the National Cancer Registry to forward a copy of its report to the Deputy.

For other illnesses, with the exception of acute infectious diseases, many of which are notifiable, incidence data are not generally available. Heart conditions, unlike cancer, are not subject to or readily amenable to registration. For conditions requiring hospitalisation, statistics on acute hospital discharges are available through the hospital inpatient enquiry, HIPE, system. For a number of reasons, including the fact that data on private hospitals are not captured, the HIPE system is of limited use in examining regional variation in prevalence of heart disease.

Statistics on mortality are often used as a proxy for incidence data, and, as stated above, these are available in the annual and quarterly reports on vital statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office. Age standardised mortality rates for various forms of heart disease are contained in the public health information system which is a computerised common data set on health indicators compiled by my Department. This shows declining rates of mortality from heart disease in all parts of the country during the past 15 years. There is also some evidence to suggest that mortality rates from diseases of the heart and circulatory system are lowest in the south and highest in the north of the country.

The Deputy will be aware that I am now establishing an expert group to develop a strategic approach to the reduction of premature death and illness caused by cardiovascular disease. The strategy is expected to cover preventive medical, surgical and rehabilitation services, health promotion and education initiatives to tackle risk factors, organisation and evaluation of services and ongoing research into the causes and treatments of cardiovascular disease. The development of a national strategy on cardiovascular health will be central to the achievement of the medium term target of the health strategy, which is to reduce the death rate from cardiovascular disease in the under 65 age group by 30 per cent by the year 2005. The National Cancer Strategy, which is currently being implemented throughout the country, aims to help reduce deaths from cancer in the under 65 age group by 15 per cent in the period 1994-2004.