2024-02-03 14:38:14
Published3. February 2024, 3:38 p.m.
Health: Cancer, the threat weighing on Luxembourg
A poor performer in terms of consumption of tobacco, alcohol and healthy food, Luxembourg might see the number of cancers explode. Health authorities want to avoid this fatality.
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Thomas Holzer
Is cancer inevitable? No, assured Minister of Health Martine Deprez (CSV) before World Cancer Day on Sunday. “It is important to become aware of the risk factors highlighted by science and to act together to adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle (…) It is a glimmer of hope which encourages us to continue to act actively to protect our health,” she said.
Among the good habits to adopt, not smoking, reducing alcohol consumption or exposure to the sun, eating a balanced diet and playing sports are among the essential elements. According to statistics from the Department of Health, 19% of deaths from tumors might have been avoided, simply by preventive measures.
1099 deaths in Luxembourg in 2022
Because cancer remains one of the two main causes of death in Luxembourg each year, along with cardiovascular diseases. In 2022, 1,099 people died from it, or 25% of deaths in the country. Among men, lung cancer is the deadliest (109 cases), followed by prostate cancer (47 deaths) and pancreatic cancer (46 deaths). For women, breast cancer (105 deaths) is ahead of lung cancer (81 deaths) and pancreatic cancer (52 deaths).
The minister’s message of hope and resilience follows much less optimistic revelations from the WHO, which expects a 77% increase in cancer cases in 2050, mainly due to tobacco, alcohol and of food.
A big consumer of meat, alcohol and cigarettes, Luxembourg is a very poor student in this area. What’s more with an increasingly aging population.
Should we expect an explosion in the number of tumors within 25 years? This is what health authorities want to avoid with multiple prevention initiatives, but also improvements in terms of care. The ministry intends in particular to work on the quality of care, the sharing of information, the availability of medicines and the development of specialties in oncology.
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