I am conscious of the increasing costs of drugs for cancer treatments and my Department is monitoring the situation closely. Agencies have been asked to keep my Department informed of the extent of any increased costs being experienced under this heading and to give full details of where these are arising.
To date I have made additional funding available during 1999 in respect of the drug costs relating to certain new posts in consultant medical oncology. I will examine the need for further extra funding for agencies in this regard in the context of the Estimates process for 2000 and subsequent years.
In relation to the actions taken to help reduce the death rate from cancer, it is too early to make informed judgments about the progress so far. It is important to note that, because of the nature of the disease, the many initiatives taken under the National Cancer Strategy will have the greatest effect on the death rate from cancer in the medium to long-term, as treatment services improve, screening-early detection programmes commence and health promotion measures are further developed.
The third report of the National Cancer Registry Board, which collects data on the incidence and mortality rates from cancer, was published yesterday, 18 October 1999. The data in this report relate to 1996, and I understand from the registry that good progress has been made in relation to collecting and analysing data for 1997 and 1998. The registry's earliest detailed national figures on cancer are in respect of 1994. The registry expects to be in a position to publish five-year survival data next year. This will give a clear indication of the trends over time in cancer deaths. However, I would again emphasise that the effects of our initiatives under the National Cancer Strategy will best be judged over a longer time period.
