Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Challenges Facing Community-based Cancer Support Services: Discussion

Ms Gemma Fort:

It goes across all age demographics and all of society. Some 75% of people attending are women but we are seeing more men. Different centres have different programmes. We have a men's group, for example, virtually all of whom have had prostate cancer. We have a women's group virtually all of whom are experiencing breast cancer. Breast cancer and prostate cancer seem to be the two most prevalent, but we are seeing ovarian, pancreatic and oesophageal cancer. I looked at our intake for May yesterday. We have somebody as young as 29 on our books at present who has just registered. We have somebody aged 40 with pancreatic cancer and another person aged around 72 with throat cancer. It is every cancer and every age range but it is predominantly women who will engage more quickly than men.

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