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Jersey still suffers from the legacy of cheap cigarettes xx
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From Susan Turnbull, Medical Officer of Health.
I AM compelled to respond to the ill-informed letter (JEP 8 August) from Madeline Bates of St Helier. She makes a number of unsubstantiated, inaccurate statements:
• Cigarettes and alcohol are cheaper in many parts of England – generally incorrect except occasional supermarket special offers and certainly not the case historically
• Almost as many smokers as non-smokers die of lung cancer – incorrect, over 90 per cent of lung cancer occurs in smokers
• High rates of leukaemia along the coast in the area (of Cap de la Hague) – incorrect, based on recent information from colleagues at the Regional Health Agency for Lower Normandy (Agence Régionale de la Santé, Basse-Normandie)
• Traffic fumes ‘are one of the main causes of lung cancer’ – incorrect. Smoking causes over 90 per cent of lung cancers. If pollution plays any role, it would only be a minor one
• Mobile phone masts are linked to head and neck cancers – incorrect. There is no known health risk from mobile phone masts. The only established health risk associated with mobile phones is the increased risk of vehicle accidents if they are used when driving
The Cancer in Jersey report is the work of a team of UK experts in the field of cancer causation. They have examined our cancer, and risk factor data in detail and concluded that we have the excessive rates in terms of cancers of the lung, and of the head and neck, that would reasonably be expected in a population with our history of very high levels of smoking and drinking.
Looking back to the 1960s, cigarettes and alcohol were very much cheaper here than in the UK and a culture of high levels of consumption became established in many Islanders. We are still suffering from the legacy of this – lung cancer is usually the consequence of long-term exposure to smoking, so changes in cancer rates due to changes in smoking rates take years to become obvious.
Fortunately the new report shows us that our high figures are beginning to show some decline in recent years of the common type of lung cancer that is most strongly associated with smoking, as well as smoking-related cancers of the head and neck. This is considered to correspond to the substantial fall in the levels of smoking in the Island since the 1970s when half of all Islanders smoked, compared with the current rate of around one in five.
Had any additional external factors, such as radiation (Cap de la Hague or radon gas), pollution or mobile phones been playing any role of significance in cancer causation, there would be no reason to expect any fall in the rates of some cancers such as we are – thankfully – beginning to observe.
We still have a long way to go. Although beginning to decrease, our smoking-related cancer rates are still significantly higher than those in England. I encourage all Islanders to help us look to the future and have their say by responding to our listening consultation.
Launched earlier this week, its focus is on protecting our children, both from the effects of second-hand smoke and from becoming smokers themselves. Consultation questions are available in leaflets at parish halls, GP surgeries and pharmacies, and also available online, along with a more detailed report, at gov.je/smokefree.
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