Address by Minister for Labour Affairs Mr. Frank Fahey, T.D., at the Galway launch of Cancer Care West

I am delighted to be here with you today to officially announce the Galway launch of Cancer Care West. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the organisation for extending this kind invitation. As Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment it gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to meet with a voluntary organisation providing a range of health and personal social services, here in Galway.

The voluntary sector plays a key role in the delivery of quality health related services in this country, and I am continuously impressed with the hard work, the commitment and the dedication of all those involved. I am very conscious of the need to provide counselling and support to all those diagnosed with cancer, and to their families, and it is in the provision of these services that the voluntary sector has proved itself so valuable.

Cancer Care West has its origins in The Leukaemia Trust, established in 1993 to raise funds for leukaemia patients in the West of Ireland. The organisation grew with its success and soon began to cater for a more diverse range of cancer conditions. Clearly much more than a trust for Leukaemia patients alone, it was felt that a new title was required to reflect these new services, and so the organisation was reborn as Cancer Care West in August 2001. The organisation has continued to grow since then, and now plans to focus on care for patients and their families. Thus, we are here today to launch Cancer Care West's 3-year fund-raising campaign, with its target of €4 million, which will provide Galway and the West of Ireland with a custom-built cancer care centre.

It is envisaged that the new 30-room centre for patient care will be sited on the grounds of University College Hospital Galway, and will complement existing therapies provided by the hospital. It is the goal of Cancer Care West to help provide the best quality of life for cancer patients and their carers, to support new and improved cancer treatments and to promote education and the early detection of cancer in the West of Ireland. The organisation aims to become a voice and a focus for cancer patients and issues related to the illness throughout the West of Ireland. The Cancer Care West Centre will provide a facility similar to that provided to cancer patients by the ARC Cancer Support Centres in Dublin and Cork.

Cancer is, undoubtedly, a major challenge to our health services. Approximately 21,000 new cases of cancer are recorded annually in Ireland, and one in three individuals will develop cancer in the course of their lifetime. Cancer is more common in older people and as the population gets older, we can expect cancer cases to increase accordingly. Since 1994, there has been a reduction in cancer mortality rates as a result of improved diagnosis, earlier interventions and improved and more widely available cancer treatments. Cancer will continue to challenge our health system to deliver effective, timely and comprehensive care.

In terms of the overall development of cancer services, this Government is committed to the further development of quality cancer services at a national level. In recent years, this commitment has been reflected in the increased level of investment provided. The cumulative additional investment in cancer services since 1997 is in excess of €400million, well in excess of the £25million initially envisaged in 1996 to implement the National Cancer Strategy.

My Colleague, the Minister for Health and Children allocated an additional sum of €29m in 2003 for cancer services, including an additional €2.64m specifically for cancer services in the Western Health Board. This investment will ensure that this year we continue to address increasing demands for cancer treatments in such areas as oncology/haematology services, oncology drug treatments and symptomatic breast disease services.

This investment has enabled the funding of 80additional Consultant posts nationally,including 9 Consultants here in the Western Health Board area, in key areas such as Medical Oncology, Radiology, Palliative Care, Histopathology, and Haematology, together with support staff. The benefit of this investment in cancer services is reflected in the significant increase in activity, which has occurred. For example, the number of new patients per annum receiving radiotherapy treatment has increased from 2402 in 1994 to 3809 in 2000. This means that an additional 1407 patients are accessing these services, representing an increase of 58% nationally. The number of new patients per annum receiving chemotherapy treatment has increased from 2693 in 1994 to 3519 in 2000, representing an increase of 30% nationally.

In this regard, I would like to acknowledge the announcement earlier this week by Minister Martin of the approval of a number of key medical and scientific staff for the new Radiotherapy Department currently under construction at University College Hospital Galway. The Radiotherapy Department is part of the Phase 2 Development in UCHG to which in excess of €100 million has been allocated to date and which is due for completion by the end of 2003.

These staff appointments, which include a Principal Physicist, 2 Senior Physicists, a Senior Engineer, a Radiation Oncologist and a Radiation Therapist, are necessary to supportthe on-going developmentof the Radiotherapy Unit and the essential commissioning of radiotherapy equipment, which is on order. The full year costs of these posts is over €600,000 and additional resources will be made available to the Board for these key appointments. I feel that these initiatives reflect this Government's and indeed the Minister for Health and Children's commitment to the future development of radiotherapy services for the Western, Mid-Western and North-Western regions.

While it is necessary to reflect on the good progress made to date in the fight against cancer, it is vital that we look to the future. With this in mind, I would like to draw your attention to the work of the National Cancer Forum, which is currently developing a new Cancer Strategy in conjunction with the Department of Health and Children. Patients and patient advocate groups have been asked to assist in the development of this Cancer Strategy, which will set out the key areas to be targeted for the development of cancer services over the coming years. As part of this work, the existing Strategy is being evaluated to assess its success and the gaps in cancer services, which now need to be prioritised. The Strategy will also have regard to the forthcoming recommendations of the Expert Group on Radiotherapy Services.

The developments, which I have outlined here today, describe an overall framework through which cancer services can be developed and provided in a co-ordinated and effective manner. This Government is committed to ensuring that the Cancer Strategy will form an integral part of the implementation of the broader Health Strategy which is aimed at ensuring quality and fairness in the provision of services to all.

In conclusion, I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work to date, and in organising this fund-raising campaign. In particular, I would like to mention Chairman Bernard Collins and Fund-raising Manager Suzanne Naughton in this regard. It only remains for me to wish everyone involved with Cancer Care West every success with this admirable campaign and all future endeavours, and to thank you all once again for the invaluable work which you are undertaking.