Hi everyone,
I've just been sent this document (for my unrelated paid employment) but it includes some rather good news about cancer survival rates in England. Since other parts of the UK that ought to be joined fully with our national health service and not run separately, in my opinion, aren't reported on I can't say how those other country's rates are doing, but I would presume they would be similar. I am part Scottish and I have to say I don't agree with this kind of thing being separated. That is another story though!
Anyway here is the quotation:
'Premature mortality rates from cancer for males have over the last 30 years fallen substantially faster than the EU-15 average and are now among the lowest in the EU-15; for females, rates which were once substantially higher than the EU-15 average are now rather closer to the EU-15 average.'
This is from the 'Health Profile of England 2008' just published in January 09, and the big full document is available to all via:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_093465
The EU-15 are the 15 countries that were members of the European Union prior to 2004.
In the myeloma group we like to hear about survival as we do not have the option of cure at the moment.... so I was really pleased when I read that!
Best wishes to all, Clarity xx
FormerMember
Bit by bit, step by step. This is great news Clarity! Is amazing to me that here in the USA Cancer will surpass heart disease for leading cause of death soon, and yet, so many more are surviving and surviving well than in the past 40 years. So we know that success IS occurring.
Well, for now, raise our classes to us being in the group that is "medically insignificant" and survives!!!!! :) There are gobs of Myeloma patients beating the numbers and living 10-20 years, so I'm going for that! :)
Cheers all,
Lori
PS I say medically insignificant because the survival numbers for Myeloma are said to not be medically significant enough to claim sweepingly that they have the way to treat Myeloma. I thought well, it would be "personally significant" if we were "medically insignificant". ha!
Thank you Clarity! I really like that! Its a growing process of changing a point of view on things, feelings, occurrences, to come to a place of serenity of being as we forge ahead. While I would like to have never gone through this at all, I know, without a doubt, that I am enriched as a person by it. I can't deny it.
