Mortality rates for cancer and heart disease ‘improve’

New statistics from the Department of Health show that the mortality rates for people suffering from heart disease and cancer have fallen.

Over the last ten years, death rates from cardiovascular disease have been cut by over a third, while cancer mortality has been reduced by 15.7 per cent, the department claims.

Furthermore, the government asserts it is on target to reduce cancer deaths by at least 20 per cent by 2010, as well as slashing the cardiovascular disease rate by at least 40 per cent.

The statement from the government said that this accounts to the saving of 50,000 lives from deaths due to cancer, and 150,000 lives for cardiovascular disease.

Last week, the Scottish Executive welcomed new figures that similarly show a fall in cancer death rates – down by 16 per cent in Scotland.

Andy Kerr, health minister, remarked: “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.”

He added that the health service “must not let up” in its battle to achieve a target of 95 per cent of cancer patients being treated with two months of being referred.