AQW 53196/22-27


Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down


Tabled Date: 28/09/2026
Answered On Date: 13/10/2026
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether any assessment has been made of how leukaemia survival rates in Northern Ireland compare to other nations in the United Kingdom.


Answer:
Cancer survival is commonly reported using Age Standardised Net Survival (ASNS), which estimates the probability of survival following a cancer diagnosis after adjusting for deaths from causes other than cancer.
The most recent available leukaemia data indicates that one-year ASNS for adults aged 15-99 diagnosed with leukaemia in Northern Ireland during the period 2019-2023 was 80%. One-year ASNS was 75.4% for Scotland (2018-2022), 74.2% for Wales (2018-2022) and 74.2% for England (2015-2019).
However, direct comparisons should be interpreted with caution as the data relates to different diagnosis periods and may be influenced by differences in the mix of leukaemia sub-types included within each dataset.
Cancer survival is commonly reported using Age Standardised Net Survival (ASNS), which estimates the probability of survival following a cancer diagnosis after adjusting for deaths from causes other than cancer.
The most recent available leukaemia data indicates that one-year ASNS for adults aged 15-99 diagnosed with leukaemia in Northern Ireland during the period 2019-2023 was 80%. One-year ASNS was 75.4% for Scotland (2018-2022), 74.2% for Wales (2018-2022) and 74.2% for England (2015-2019).
However, direct comparisons should be interpreted with caution as the data relates to different diagnosis periods and may be influenced by differences in the mix of leukaemia sub-types included within each dataset.