Cancer death rates 61% higher in poorer areas
pharmafile | November 1, 2017 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development | NHS, biotech, drugs, pharma, pharmaceutical
Figures released by NHS Scotland have revealed that the numbers of deaths from cancer are 67% higher in the poorest areas of the country. Compounding this figure is the fact that there is also an increase of 27% in the number of cancers diagnosed in these parts.
The figures were gathered in the decade running up to 2016, which also showed that there has been a drop of 11% in the number of individuals dying from cancer.
One of the correlating factors in this higher rate of death is due to levels of smoking, which was found to be highly associated with lower income. Despite this, overall levels of lung cancer death rates among men fell by 23% across the country and in women by 6%.
Other areas were not as positive, with rates of liver cancer up by 55% − with the reasons behind this identified as alcohol consumptions and hepatitis B and C.
It was also found that incidence of uterus cancer had also greatly increased by 71%, which was pointed as potentially due to the increase in obesity.
SNP’s Health secretary, Shona Robison, said: “It’s encouraging to see the death rate from cancer has fallen 11% in the last ten years, but we want to go further. Our £100 million Cancer Strategy aims to see more people survive cancer and reduce cancer health inequalities. We are taking action to increase awareness of screening in deprived areas.”
As Robison identifies, one of the major reasons behind the disparity in death rates between higher- and lower-income households is due screening. In poorer areas, people are often diagnosed late, when there is a greater difficulty in treating cancer.
The figures released by NHS Scotland come not long after Audit Scotland released its annual report that warned of serious issues in the healthcare system. A number of worrying figures were release, including a 99% increase in the number of people waiting more than 12 weeks for an outpatient appointment and warnings that life expectancy continues to be lower compared to other European countries.
Speaking not long after this was reported, Robison admitted that Scotland was unlikely to hit its targets for the following year’s audits.
Ben Hargreaves
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