A recent study warns that Portugal’s cancer rate is expected to increase by 20% by 2040, with the country having the highest rates of cancer in children in the European Union.
The statistics are part of a Portuguese cancer profile presented by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission (EC). The data identifies that oncological disease is the second leading cause of death in the country, with the mortality rate decreasing at a slower rate than the EU average.
Estimates presented in the study point to an increase in new cases of cancer in all EU countries between 2022 and 2040, with Portugal registering significant growth.
In Portugal, new cancer cases are expected to increase by 12% by 2030 and 20% by 2040, above EU averages of 9% by 2030 and 18% by 2040.
The OECD and the EC also report that, in 2022, 245 children and adolescents up to the age of 15 were diagnosed with cancer, which represents the highest incidence rate among EU countries. Norway and Iceland, are also above the EU average with 14 cases per 100,000 children. In Portugal the incidence rate of boys is slightly higher than that of girls and both these rates are approximately 30% higher than the EU average.
The Director of the National Programme for Oncological Diseases, José Dinis, told media outlet, Lusa, that this high incidence rate is explained as cases from Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) are reported on national statistics, and not from the children’s countries of origin.
Despite the high incidence rate of paediatric cancer in Portugal, the amount of research carried out at a national level is relatively small. The study also warns, that between 2010 and 2022, Portugal registered only 22 clinical trials with children and young people, which represented 5% of the 436 trials EU trials during this period.
“This figure is significantly lower than that of countries with a similar population size, such as the Czech Republic (14%), states the OECD and EC, which add that, in 2018, 84% of the 68 medicines identified as essential for the treatment of cancer in patients between 0 and 18 years old were available in Portugal, compared to an average of 76% in the EU.
The study now released shows that in 2021, Portugal registered one of the greatest inequalities between men and women in terms of cancer mortality. Men (318 per 100,000) have a cancer death rate that is nearly twice that of women (161 per 100,000), which is partly explained by the three deadliest cancer locations – lung, colon, rectum and stomach – and the highest prevalence of behavioural risk factors.
Between 2011 and 2021, cancer mortality in Portugal decreased by 8%, a reduction that was lower than the 12% recorded in the EU. Highlighting that improvements in mortality fell short of those in other countries, especially among people under 65 years of age.
In that period, however, Portugal was able to reduce the mortality rates of some of the most common types of cancer – such as bladder (-34%), cervical (-26%), colorectal (-22%) and prostate (-22%) – faster than the EU average.
Disease risk patterns show that lung cancer mortality rates decreased by 3% among men, but increased by almost 23% among women.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com