HEALTH chiefs are stepping up their campaign to support cancer sufferers – despite figures showing ten per cent more patients are surviving the disease.
Figures released by Cancer Research UK show the number of people dying from the disease in the West Midlands has dropped over the last ten years from 323 in every 100,000 people to 294 per 100,000.
The charity say research and a better understanding of cancer has lead to the reduction, with doctors knowing more about preventing the disease and improved surgical techniques.
Cancer Research UK’s Warwickshire spokeswoman Jane Redman said: “It’s important to remember that even though the death rates are falling, the overall number of people dying from cancer is expected to increase. This is because the population is growing and more of us are living longer. Too many people are still being diagnosed with and dying from cancer, not just here in Warwickshire, but across the UK and around the globe.
“Thanks to research more people are surviving cancer than ever – but there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure that more families can stay together for longer.”
Despite the drop in the number of people dying from the disease, local hospices and South Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT) have teamed up to offer even more support to those who suffer from cancer.
Staff have been helping those with the illness and those who care for them by offering advice about end of life care and local hospices such as Myton and The Shakespeare Hospice.
Palliative care consultants and trust executives have also been visiting hospital wards to look at how end of life care can be tailored to treat people with different conditions.
And to help patients express their feelings about hospice care, hospital chaplains set up a ‘message tree’ so people could write down their feelings on death and leave messages to loved ones who had lost their battle with cancer.
Visit www.cancerresearchuk.org to donate or find out more.
