Scottish Executive welcomes new cancer figures

The Scottish Executive has welcomed new figures for cancer which show that mortality rates have decreased by 16 per cent over the last ten years.

Additionally, the statistics revealed an increase in the number of patients being treated within two months of being referred, with 78.5 per cent of patients of all types of cancer being treated within the specified time.

Andy Kerr, health minister, said that NHS boards “must not let” up in their attempt to achieve the 95 per cent goal.

He stated: “Tackling cancer has been one of our top priorities and it’s a great credit to the work we are doing across the service that people are now less likely to contract the disease and if they do, less likely to die from it.”

Mr Kerr added that the “significant” investment into the health service was now yielding results, with a “step in the right direction” being displayed for “every tumour type”.

However, he warned that there was still much work to be done.

In other cancer-related news, recent studies have shown that mineral water may be effective in killing cancer cells.

Researchers in Slovenia found that Scottish mineral inhibited the growth of cancer cells more so than ordinary laboratory water.