§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest assessment is of the number of704W deaths from cancer which could be avoided in the UK each year if cancer survival rates were raised to the average level of other EU countries. [42286]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Tim Loughton, dated March 2002:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the number of deaths from cancer which could be avoided in the UK each year if cancer survival rates were raised to the average level of other EU countries. (42286)The number requested is not readily available. Comparable survival rates do not exist for all EU countries or for the UK as a whole. The comparable figures that are available relate to the devolved administrations of the UK and those parts of EU countries that participated in the EUROCARE project.