Tag: cancer

4 Comments

Canadian local authority issues free potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all living within 6 miles of nuclear plants but Labour extend life of aging 46-crack Torness in Scotland

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA A map of the nuclear power plants in Eastern Canada. The city of Toronto (2.79 million) is contiguous with Pickering. Yesterday, from the local Durham Region Health Department: “Ensuring that our community is prepared for any emergency is our top priority,” says Anthony DiPietro, Director, Health Protection with Durham Region Health Department. “Having a supply of KI tablets on hand is a simple yet effective measure to protect your health in the highly unlikely event of a nuclear accident. We encourage all residents within the designated area to take advantage of this free resource.” https://www.durham.ca/en/news/ki-tablets-jan-21-2025.aspx Meanwhile in … Continue reading Canadian local authority issues free potassium iodide (KI) tablets to all living within 6 miles of nuclear plants but Labour extend life of aging 46-crack Torness in Scotland

6 Comments

Sandesh Gulhane in the Herald today to mislead you on the state of cancer care in Scotland based on less than 1% of the cases and another infantile counting up to get a big number

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA Based on a Scottish Conservatives Freedom of Information request, the Herald today has: 2 000 young scots faced delay to cancer treatments The figure, 2 418 is based on that primary school method of counting up for as many years as you need to, in order to get a big number for a headline. In this case it’s from 2014, so presumably 10 years, giving an average of around 240 per year. There are 35 400 cancer cases per year in Scotland1 so we’re looking at only 0.68% of the total. The Herald report does not … Continue reading Sandesh Gulhane in the Herald today to mislead you on the state of cancer care in Scotland based on less than 1% of the cases and another infantile counting up to get a big number

Leave a comment

BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

johnrobertson834

This morning BBC Scotland, at 6:30am, report: Currently three out of five people with a group of cancers characterised as ‘less survivable die within a year of diagnosis. New analysis shows the average one-year for survival rate for this group of cancers, which includes lung, liver and brain cancer, is just 39% in Scotland. The overall cancer survival rates across the country show 71% are still alive after 12 months. I don’t know about you but I took that contrasting 39% in Scotland and 71% across the country to mean that the UK survival rate was 71% and the Scottish … Continue reading BBC Scotland’s subtle attempt to mislead on cancer deaths

7 Comments

The use of imagined cancer deaths to attack SNP health secretaries

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA Two days ago, I noticed this research report from the USA casting doubt on the effectiveness of cancer treatment to avert a spike in deaths: At the peak of the shortage, about 15% of patients probably had trouble accessing a platinum chemotherapy drug, the study found. But there was good news, too: Despite the shortages, the study team could find no difference in death rates for patients with solid tumor cancers in 2023 versus the year before. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-12-24/last-years-platinum-based-drugs-shortage-didnt-raise-cancer-deaths-study-found#:~:text=At%20the%20peak%20of%20the,2023%20versus%20the%20year%20before. I was then reminded of two previous times when opposition parties and their pals in the ‘Scottish’ media had used … Continue reading The use of imagined cancer deaths to attack SNP health secretaries

2 Comments

Cancer waiting times – NHS Scotland saving hundreds of lives with quicker treatment and NHS England risking thousands with delay

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA From Cancer waiting times 1 July to 30 September 2024, released today, the above graph and: 72.1% of patients started treatment within 62 days. 94.3% of patients started treatment within 31 days. The equivalent data for NHS England are 67.3% and 90.6%. On cancer waiting times Scotland is performing 7.4% and 4% better. Remember in a Scottish context, that means around 300 cancer patients per quarter seen on time and in England, around 3 000 not. Sources: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-july-to-30-september-2024/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/ Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/ The Oliver Brown Award for advancing … Continue reading Cancer waiting times – NHS Scotland saving hundreds of lives with quicker treatment and NHS England risking thousands with delay

3 Comments

Just as Labour Government announces extension of 46 crack Torness nuclear power station to keep lights in London on, new research suggests cancer mortality risk is greater and quicker to develop than current estimates

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA As a response to evidence that the UK [England] will need nuclear to meet its ‘Clean power by 2030‘ target1, the Torness plant in Scotland, where 46 cracks have recently been identified in the ageing reactor2, is to be kept in service until 2030. Coincidentally, my alert on this topic today revealed, from the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (originally published 2 September 2024): The scientists estimated that the mortality rate due to leukaemia increased by more than 250% per gray (Gy) of exposure (excess relative rate [ERR] per Gy, 2.68; 90% confidence … Continue reading Just as Labour Government announces extension of 46 crack Torness nuclear power station to keep lights in London on, new research suggests cancer mortality risk is greater and quicker to develop than current estimates

8 Comments

NHS Scotland is not lagging behind – Complaint to Editor of Times and their response, so much better than BBC Complaints

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA To the Editor of the Times, regarding the above article, being widely copied in MSM and exciting Unionists, I submitted a formal complaint with this content; On cancer waiting times, you had: ‘The waiting times for cancer treatment are continuing to surge in England and Scotland, with only 73 per cent and 68 per cent of cases respectively meeting the 62-day target from the time of referral to the start of treatment.’ On A&E Waiting Times, you had 65.9% were seen within 4 hours in Scotland and 72.4% were seen in that time in NHS … Continue reading NHS Scotland is not lagging behind – Complaint to Editor of Times and their response, so much better than BBC Complaints

Leave a comment

Factcheck – cancer waiting times NOT surging in Scotland and significantly better than in other parts of UK

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA Many thanks to AR for alerting me to this. Two days ago, the Times had an extended report, widely copied across the media and exciting Unionist voices, to suggest that NHS Scotland is actually lagging behind NHS England, on the overall backlog, cancer waiting times and A&E waiting times. I’ll tackle them one at a time. Cancer waiting times The Times has: The waiting times for cancer treatment are continuing to surge in England and Scotland, with only 73 per cent and 68 per cent of cases respectively meeting the 62-day target from the time of referral to the start of … Continue reading Factcheck – cancer waiting times NOT surging in Scotland and significantly better than in other parts of UK

4 Comments

Susan Dalgety misses the three woman who have really saved lives from cancer in Scotland

johnrobertson834

By Professor John Robertson OBA Former Jack McConnell spad and regular Scotsman fake news provider, Susan Dalgety, is front page today with: How three women are saving lives from cancer. Straight off, I thought she must be talking of those three Scottish health secretaries, Nicola Sturgeon, Shona Robison and Jeanne Freeman. Turns out it’s not them, yet: Scotland’s dramatically better cancer waiting times September 20th 2024, BBC UK’s Nick Triggle has: The cancers with longest treatment waits revealed with the above graph for NHS England data. I’ve added, where possible, equivalent Scottish data. While skin and prostate/kidney waiting times do seem slightly longer … Continue reading Susan Dalgety misses the three woman who have really saved lives from cancer in Scotland

1 Comment

20 peer-reviewed and published research studies find that NORMAL operation of reactors causes ‘cancers chromosomal aberrations, birth defects and miscarriages, and mental retardation after in utero exposure’ and Scottish Labour will risk more of that

johnrobertson834

In an extensive review of research over the last 30 years, published in 2016 in the International Journal of Environmental Research into Public Health, Dean Kyne (University of Texas) and Bob Bolin (Arizona State University) identified 20 reports confirming that normal operation, as opposed to during accidents like that at Chernobyl, causes cancer especially after exposure before birth and in very young children. They write: Evidence suggests that individuals living near the nuclear power plants face difficult-to-avoid health risks associated with exposure to low level routine radioactive effluents emitted from plants. Given that no level of radiation exposure is considered … Continue reading 20 peer-reviewed and published research studies find that NORMAL operation of reactors causes ‘cancers chromosomal aberrations, birth defects and miscarriages, and mental retardation after in utero exposure’ and Scottish Labour will risk more of that