Tánaiste hails improvements in cancer care since Belfast Agreement

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has paid tribute to the “transformative” impact of the Belfast Agreement on health co-operation on the island of Ireland.

The improvements in cancer care that have flowed over the last 25 years are a “practical demonstration of the power of positive decision-making to improve people’s lives”, he told a conference in Belfast on Tuesday.

“Essentially, politics is about improving the daily lives of people. I can think of no more effective way of doing that than changing the direction of a person’s cancer journey.”

Speaking at Queen’s University Belfast, Mr Martin said the agreement resulted in a “seismic” change to research funding, established “robust” clinical trials, trained over 500 clinicians and scientists, and allowed for the sharing of expertise and best practice.

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“Most importantly, it has eased suffering and to save lives, and I know that it will continue to do.”

The Tánaiste singled out cross-Border cooperation in the Northwest Cancer Centre, which has seen more than 1,000 patients a year from Co Donegal treated in Altnagelvin in Derry.

He was speaking at the Cancer Knows No Borders strand of the major international conference at Queen’s examing the legacy of the Belfast Agreement on its 25th anniversary.

The agreement resulted in lives being saved “in more than one way”, former Northern health minister Robin Swann pointed out, with cancer care being one of the lesser-known areas where the benefits of the deal were felt.

Hailing the collaboration that has taken place under the agreement, Mr Swann said that by pooling efforts, the North and the Republic could achieve far more together than they could on their own.

Expressing his personal appreciation of cross-Border collaboration in health, he said had attended Crumlin children’s hospital several weeks ago with his child, who has a congenital heart defect and needed a new pacemaker fitted.

Before the agreement, cancer services on both sides of the Border were fragmented and there was a wide variation in the provision of treatment, Prof Mark Lawler, a cancer researcher at Queen’s, told the conference. After it, cancer services were consolidated, research efforts multiplied and a flow of Irish scientists travelled to the National Cancer Institute in the US. Cancer survival rates improved and the volume and quality of research increased.