Public Health Wales has warned that cancer rates could increase dramatically over the next decade, partly due to Wales’ aging population and health inequalities across the country. They say that the issue could become one of Wales’ most stark health concerns.
00:00It's being described as one of the starkest health challenges facing Wales over the next decade.
00:06A new report from Public Health Wales projects that by 2035, there could be around 24,000 new cancer cases identified each year.
00:14That's an increase of 11% on the numbers we expect to see in 2025.
00:18The rise is largely linked to Wales' ageing population.
00:21Cancer is more common in older people, and in the last two decades, the number of people aged over 65 has already grown by almost 200,000.
00:28By the mid-2030s, it's expected to grow by another 135,000.
00:34Cancer already accounts for one in four deaths in Wales, with more than 9,100 people losing their lives to it in 2024, 10% more than 2002.
00:43The most common cancers remain prostate, breast, lung and bowel, with lung cancer continuing to cause the most deaths, in part because it's often diagnosed too late.
00:52Public Health Wales says that four in ten cancers can actually be prevented by tackling risk factors such as smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption and UV exposure, but stark inequalities remain.
01:04People in the most deprived areas of Wales are 20% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than those in the least deprived, and that gap hasn't narrowed in nearly 20 years.
01:14Dr. Cleon Davis from Public Health Wales says prevention and early diagnosis must now be priorities, with new screening programmes, including a targeted lung cancer screening due in 2027, aimed to catch cancers earlier, when they're more treatable.
01:28He warns that inequalities remain severe, and that the wider building blocks for health, from secure housing and stable work, to safe environments and strong communities, need to be strengthened if Wales is to avoid worsening cancer outcomes in the years ahead.
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