AQW 13317/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 25/01/2021
Answered On Date: 08/02/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the (i) incidence rate of mesothelioma; and (ii) number of people currently living with the condition in each Health and Social Care Trust.

Answer:

Full registration of all cancer patients in Northern Ireland (NI) is currently only available from the NI Cancer Registry (NICR) up to the end of 2018.

(i) Incidence rate of mesothelioma

During 2014-2018 there were 243 new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed. This is an incidence rate of 2.6 cases diagnosed each year per 100,000 persons in Northern Ireland.

(ii) Number of people currently living with the condition in each Health and Social Care Trust

Mesothelioma has a very poor survival rate (approximately 5%, five years from diagnosis). Thus at the end of 2018 there were only 53 people resident in Northern Ireland who had a diagnosis of mesothelioma in the 26-year period from 1993 to 2018. The number of residents in each Health and Social Care Trust at the end of 2018 can be found in table 1 below.

Table 1. Number of residents in Northern Ireland with a diagnosis of mesothelioma at the end of 2018.

Health and Social Care Trust of residence at the end of 2018	Number of survivors*
Belfast HSCT	18
Northern HSCT	13
South-Eastern HSCT	12
Southern HSCT	9
Western HSCT	6
Northern Ireland	58

* Patients diagnosed during 1993-2018 who were still alive at the end of 2018