Cancer in Malta : trends in mortality and incidence rates of lung and breast cancer

Abstract

Health and development are interlinked. This paper is a first step in the epidemiology of lung and breast cancer in Malta over the last thirty years. It provides raw material and suggestive correlations. Cancer has become a major cause of illness and death in every age group, but in particular the over sixties. A significant increase in lung cancer mortality and in particular breast cancer morbidity and mortality is apparent. Locational studies show a higher incidence in particular of lung cancer in the Inner Harbour Region where the docks, shipbuilding, many textile and other industries, and the coal-fired power station, are located and where the working class is concentrated. The lack of government controls on known carcinogens such as asbetos, together with clear results of occupational cancer studies done in say USA or Britain, indicate that there is an urgent need to control and eliminate local carcinogenic hazards.