The Government has been criticised for failing to deliver on commitments made to cancer care in the wake of a new EU cancer care study.
The Eurocare 4 report covering 80 cancer registries across 23 countries is published in The Lancet Oncology today and shows Ireland is still lagging behind European countries and in some cases eastern European countries.
"I hope the government will treat these shocking figures with the seriousness that they deserve and that Minister for Health Mary Harney will now make a determined effort to get the Cancer Treatment Plan back on track," said Labour Party spokeswoman on health Liz McManus.
Ms McManus said the Government had failed to live up to its own commitment to deliver the BreastCheck screening programme to women in the west, north west and south, meaning many women are being denied the opportunity of early diagnosis and treatment.
She also said the long promised cervical cancer screening programme has not yet materialised and the country was waiting a decision on whether or not a cervical cancer vaccination programme is to go ahead.
"Many people had hoped that the Cancer Treatment Plan launched by Minister Harney in 2005 would have led to an improvement in the situation. However, a leaked document in January of this year exposed the implementation of the plan as a shambles, with long delays and significant cost overruns," Ms McManus said.
The Department of Health and Children welcomed the Eurocare 4 report saying the Government had made decisions in the last year to move cancer care up to a new level to achieve better outcomes for people in every region of the country.
The Minister has made available an additional €20.5m this year for cancer control (including screening, acute services and research), the Department said in a statement.
It said this marked an increase of 74 per cent on the comparable 2006 investment and includes €3.5m to support the initial implementation of the HSE National Cancer Control Programme.
"Since the implementation of the first National Cancer Strategy in 1997, approximately €1 billion has been invested in cancer services nationally. The Government has invested substantially in all regions to improve cancer survival. Over 100 additional Consultants have been appointed in key areas of cancer care such as Medical Oncology, Radiology, Palliative Care, Histopathology, and Haematology,' the Department added.