Call for cancer service to be election issue

The head of the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has urged the public to make the provision of cancer treatment and screening facilities an election issue.

John McCormack, chief executive of the society, said Irish cancer patients did not have a voice and had been "badly let down" by successive governments.

Pointing to waiting lists of up to 14 weeks for radiotherapy by patients who are then forced to travel long distances for treatment, he said such people were often too vulnerable to highlight their own suffering.

"People are suffering in silence. They are not able to go on radio to talk about this.

"They have no voice because they are so vulnerable and I think the State is taking advantage of them," he said.

Mr McCormack said the waiting lists for radiotherapy, especially for patients with prostrate and lung cancer, were "intolerable" and multiples of that recommended for good clinical practice.

Speaking against the backdrop of ongoing uncertainty about the timetable for delivering a national network of radiotherapy services, Mr McCormack said he accepted that the Minister for Health had made a lot of progress since taking up office.

"We do have a national radiotherapy plan, we have a commitment that a national cervical screening programme will be in place by 2008 and that we will have Breastcheck in Cork and Galway in 2007."

Mr McCormack said he believed the HSE officials in charge of delivering these plans did have "the bit between their teeth" but he was anxious to ensure that the momentum would be maintained.

Stressing that people should raise this issue on the doorstep with all politicians, he pointed out that a nationwide cervical screening programme had been in place in Canada since 1960 and in England since 1988.

"Women are dying in Ireland because we do not have a nationwide cervical screening programme."

He said that while progress had been made in educating women here about screening for breast cancer, this was not the case with cervical cancer.

"We have 1,000 case of pre-cervical cancer every year, 200 new cases of the cancer and 70 deaths," said Mr McCormack.

He said that with proper screening, these figures could be dramatically reduced.

"Women are having hysterectomies, they are having radiotherapy treatment, they are having major life-changing experiences which in many cases could have been avoided if they were screened for cervical cancer."

Minister for Health Mary Harney insisted last week that radiotherapy services could still be provided across the State by the original deadline of 2011 .

This follows reports that the team charged with implementing the plan believed the services could not be put in place until 2013 or 2014 if it was provided by way of public private partnerships (PPP).

Mr McCormack pointed out that the HSE board was expected to come up with proposals later this week and the ICS hopes that the 2011 deadline will be met.

He said he was hopeful that the project could be progressed if necessary by taking some elements out of PPPs.

"This is needed yesterday," he said.

"People who are ill with cancer should not have to wait."