DEATHS FROM CANCER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23685, 17 December 1938, Page 16

DEATHS FROM CANCER

UNITED KINGDOM TOLL FACILITIES FOR TREATMENT LONDON, Dec. 12. "It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 sufferers from cancer in the United Kingdom today," said the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, lir moving the second reading of the Cancer Bill. Cancer came second on the list of fatal diseases, and the deaths from the disease had been steadily mounting. up annually:' They totalled 74,000 in 1937. • ,' ';• Cancer was not merely an oldage disease; it killed off people in the prime of life, and the nation could not afford in these days to permit inroads upon the health of its citizens. : The main purpose of the Bill is to establish a cancer service, under which in every part of the country modern facilities for diagnosis and treatment will be available. It places an obligation on the major local authorities to consult with the Radium Commission and bodies representing the voluntary hospitals and the local medical profession, and to prepare and submit for the approval'of. the Minister arrangements for securing facilities for the treatment of cancer adequate to the needs of the areas concerned. One clause,, in the Bill prohibits advertisements of offers to cure cancer and advertisements referring to articles in terms calculated to lead to their use in the treatment of cancer. The Bill was read a second time without a division. Practically the only criticism was that it does not go far enough.