Death rates from cervical cancer in the Republic now exceed those of Britain and Northern Ireland, according to a new study. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
It finds that the lack of a national cervical screening programme is the most plausible explanation.
The study looked at cervical cancer death rates in the UK and the Republic between 1971 and 2000. It found that deaths from cervical cancer fell substantially in the UK after a national screening programme was introduced in 1988.
In the Republic there has been a steady increase year on year.There have been calls for a national screening programme from several organisations, including the Irish Cancer Society.
A screening programme was introduced on a pilot basis in the Mid-Western Health Board region in October 2000. It has recently been evaluated by an international expert asked to report on the feasibility of a national programme. The Department of Health said yesterday the expert's report was being considered.
The comparative study of deaths from cervical cancer in the UK and Ireland was carried out by Dr Harry Comber, director of the National Cancer Registry in Cork, and Dr Anna Gavin, director of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry in Belfast. It has been published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Their research points out that early detection of cervical cancer through effective screening is a major factor in improving survival. They found that, since 1988, deaths from cervical cancer in England and Wales have dropped by 5 per cent each year, and in Scotland by 4 per cent each year. Northern Ireland had a 2 per cent fall in deaths per year. But the Republic has had an annual 1.5 per cent increase since 1978.
There are an average 76 deaths a year in the Republic from cervical cancer.
Dr Comber and Dr Gavin note in their study that the opportunistic cervical screening being carried out in the Republic at present, where women present at their own volition to GPs for smear tests, appears to be having little impact on the overall rate of mortality from cervical cancer.
"A move from the current system to a population-based programme would not greatly increase the volume of screening while probably bringing about the type of mortality reduction seen elsewhere," it said.
Commenting on the study, Dr Lesley Walker, director of Cancer Information at Cancer Research UK, said: "A population-based screening programme for cervical cancer must be introduced in Ireland to reduce cases of the disease and save lives".
Meanwhile, delegates attending the 4th World Conference for Cancer Organisations in Dublin have called on world leaders to urgently lend their united support to efforts to prevent millions of needless cancer deaths.
According to WHO figures, cancer was last year responsible for 12.5 per cent of all deaths worldwide, more than the total number of deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.