I want cancer survival rates in Southend West to match the best in Europe

The UK’s cancer survival rates lag behind the rest of Europe, I am making them a priority.

#TimeToChoose

Macmillan is calling for the next government to take action to improve cancer outcomes. Currently, according to the Eurocare-5 study, the one year cancer survival rate for England is 68%, meaning 1 in 3 people with cancer die within a year of diagnosis. The best one year survival rate in Europe is 81% in Sweden.

I’m helping 5.300 ( the number living with and beyond cancer up to 20 years after diagnosis in NHS Southend CCG) people in Southend by prioritisng cancer care.

More cancer statistics for my home town

Here are some more statistics on cancer in relation to my home town. I have indicated where we do better or worse in comparison to the national average by colour coding the numbers (green means we are doing better, red worse).

	National average	South East Essex PCT
Breast incidence rate	125.7	121.5	Per 100,000
Breast mortality rate	24.8	28.1	Per 100,000
Breast screening	77	73.8	Proportion of women aged 53 – 70
Bowel incidence rate	46.5	43.4	Per 100,000
Bowel mortality rate	16.4	14.2	Per 100,000
Bowel screening	58.8	54	Proportion of those aged 60 – 69
Prostate incidence rate	105.8	97.1	Per 100,000
Prostate mortality rate	24	25.1	Per 100,000
Cervical incidence rate	8.8	5.4	Per 100,000
Cervical mortality rate	2.2	2	Per 100,000
Cervical screening for young women	71.5	72.7	Proportion of women aged 25 – 49
Cervical screening older women	77.5	76.7	Proportion of women aged 50 – 64
Oesophageal incidence rate	9.9	10.9	Per 100,000
Oesophageal mortality rate	9.9	10.9	Per 100,000
Ovarian incidence rate	16.7	19.7	Per 100,000
Ovarian mortality rate	8.9	8.5	Per 100,000
Stomach incidence rate	8.4	6.7	Per 100,00
Stomach mortality rate	5.2	5.5	Per 100,000

I would always suggest you check against the data source.

Some local smoking facts

The percentage of people smoking in Southend-on-Sea (22.0%) is higher than the English average (19.5%). (Smoking causes nearly a fifth (19%) of all cancer cases in the UK.)

The rate of deaths caused by smoking is similar in Southend-on-Sea (300.4 per 100,000) compared to the English average (291.9 per 100,000). (More than a quarter (27%) of cancer deaths in the UK are caused by smoking. In addition to smoking causing cancer, smokers are also at higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke.)

The incidence rate of lung cancer in the former South East Essex Primary Care Trust (PCT) (45.1 per 100,000) is similar to the English average (47.7 per 100,000). Around 250 new lung cancer cases are diagnosed per year in the former South East Essex PCT’s area. (More than 8 in 10 lung cancer cases in the UK are caused by tobacco.)

One-year lung cancer survival in the former South East Essex PCT (28.9%) is similar to the English average (29.4%). (There is room for improvement as the UK’s cancer survival lags behind the best in Europe.)

(Statistics courtesy of Cancer Research UK.)