In recent weeks, a study by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) has highlighted the impact of contaminants in the air in Rouyn-Noranda and the resulting surplus of cancer cases. Since then, the public debate has focused on finding the culprits in this story.
Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
The Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec wishes to encourage the debate on courses of action to reduce the risk and impact of suffering from lung cancer for the inhabitants of this region, but also on how to prevent similar situations elsewhere. in Quebec.
How many other “Horne Foundries” or “Notre-Dame Quarters” do we have in Quebec? Currently, because we do not have a complete Quebec Cancer Registry at our disposal, we have no simple and transparent way of ensuring that environmental factors do not generate excess cancer cases in other areas. of the population elsewhere in the province.
An effective cancer registry is a database that is used to list cancer cases, by region, by stage, by sex, by age of the population, as well as to measure survival, response to treatment and complication rates (to name a few).
A reliable and efficient cancer registry would allow the government, public health and ultimately Quebecers to know and see in real time, where and in which parts of the population cancers are developing.
Thus, we could quickly detect an anomaly in the distribution of cancer cases and target variations in the mortality rates linked to certain cancers in specific regions. We could then establish the possible causes, such as environmental factors or associated social determinants, and, above all, prevent and fight cancer.
Quebec is dragging its feet
The Register has been promised for 12 years now. Despite a first preliminary version of a partial register until 2017, to date we remain lacking a firm commitment with a rapid timetable for its implementation. We remember that cancer is the leading cause of death in Quebec.
Following the publication of the annual report of the Canadian Cancer Society, it was clear that Quebec is once again the only province not to provide the majority of Canadian statistics on cancer.
Better late than never
The World Health Organization states in a recent report: “Environmental and lifestyle factors have been recognized and identified as contributing to approximately 50% of the global cancer burden, and are expected to that they participate in the risk for the remaining 50%, the causes of which remain unknown to this day. »
The case of Rouyn-Noranda highlights the importance of having such a register.
Today, with this information, we must set up an early detection program for lung cancer for people at high risk in the region.
For the future, we must speed up the establishment of a complete and up-to-date Québec Cancer Registry.
We must learn from a situation like Rouyn-Noranda and, above all, act to improve. In the common interest, it is our responsibility to take action as soon as possible.