Vol. 488 No. 2
30 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on whether it is unacceptable that 41 out of every 100 women who develop breast cancer in Ireland die from this condition; his views on whether the plans in place by his Department are inadequate to confront this issue and that there is a need to provide better health care in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5765/98]
42 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the results of research carried out by the United Kingdom analysts, Datamonitor, which showed that women in Ireland with breast cancer are twice as likely to die as those who develop the disease in the United States; if his attention has further been drawn to claims by doctors that the lack of centralised services for cancer patients is leading to the high death rate here; the steps, if any, he will take to deal with this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5697/98]
55 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on whether it is unacceptable that 41 out of every 100 women who develop breast cancer in Ireland die from this condition; his views on whether the plans in place by his Department are inadequate to confront this issue and that there is a need to provide better health care in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5768/98]
85 Mrs. Barnes asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on whether it is unacceptable that 41 out of every 100 women who develop breast cancer in Ireland die from this condition; his views on whether the plans in place by his Department are inadequate to confront this issue and that there is a need to provide better health care in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5767/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 42, 55 and 85 together.
Published death rates from cancer in different countries have to be interpreted with great caution. A number of factors may explain the difference between recorded death rates from breast cancer in the USA and European countries, including Ireland. These include differences in classification methods, the registration of second cancer tumours and the approach to death certification.
It is important to take account of age differences when comparing death rates from any disease. The age standardised death rate per 100,000 population in Ireland is 26 for breast cancer. This is the same figure as in the UK. In the USA the age standardised figure is 21. While the US figure is lower, the differences do not appear as pronounced as implied by some statistics quoted in recent media reports.
