Cancer treatment policies should take into consideration the well-being of poor people, who were at a higher risk of developing the disease, President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said.

Speaking at a conference, organised by the National Cancer Platform, We can- I can, ahead of World Cancer Day tomorrow, she said that according to international research, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of exercise and lack of access to fruit and vegetables were linked to 40 per cent of cancers. Poverty, she added, was also linked to cancer risk.

“When it comes to developing long-term strategies for the care and holistic support of cancer, we need to  focus on poverty as well.”

Referring to scientific research by the UK’s National Cancer Research Institute, the President noted that there was a clear link between poverty and death that was caused by breast cancer.

This same study showed that poorer women were diagnosed at advanced stages, and it was therefore more difficult to cure. Although people in the UK could get treated for free, it took longer for poorer women to get seen to, while affluent patients sought medical attention immediately.

Meanwhile, according to other international research, poor people were more at risk because of lack of employment, education, skills and healthy food.

The President quoted Sir Michael Marmot from the University College of London, who said that the answer for inequalities within the health sector was “not just in the choices people make, but also the chances that life offers them.”

This called for holistic policies that took into consideration the well-being of those within poverty, President Coleiro Preca said, urging the authorities to finalise as soon as possible the national plan for cancer.