PEOPLE living in the west of Scotland are 50 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than in the rest of the UK, a report says today.
The statistics also show that residents in the west of Scotland are 15 per cent more likely be diagnosed with the disease than people from other parts of Scotland.
The report says they are also 30 per cent more likely to die from lung cancer than
those elsewhere in Scotland, while the rate of people dying from the disease is 50 per cent higher than in the rest of Britain.
Higher levels of deprivation are partly to blame, experts say.
The figures, contained in a report by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), will be unveiled at a cancer conference in Birmingham.
Professor David Forman, of the NCIN, who is based at the University of Leeds, said: "Smoking rates are around 5 per cent higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK, and this significantly contributes to the higher rates of lung cancer – smoking is responsible for nearly nine in ten cases of lung cancer.
"We know that smoking rates are linked to deprivation – rates are about 10 per cent higher in working-class communities."
The report also says the rate of lung cancer among women in the west of Scotland exceeds that of men in some parts of the UK.
Women are almost 50 per cent more likely to get lung cancer in the west of Scotland than men in Surrey, West Sussex, and Hampshire.
Professor Sir Alex Markham, the chairman of the NCIN, said such data could help to target anti-smoking policies where it mattered.
He added: "Scotland has led the UK in protecting workers and the public from the dangers of second-hand smoke and has every right to be proud.
"But higher smoking rates in Scotland still account for much of the difference in cancer rates between England and Scotland."
In May, the Scottish Government launched its plan for reducing smoking. Key measures included restricting the display of cigarettes in shops and taking action to reduce the amount of smuggled cigarettes.
Last night, a Holyrood spokesman said: "It is well-known that deprivation levels in the west of Scotland have contributed to its poor health record, but the Scottish Government is working hard to tackle the health inequalities that continue to blight the lives of too many people.
"We are making every effort to reduce smoking rates, which we know are singularly harmful to health and the principal cause of lung cancer."
The spokesman added that Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public places and was continuing to build on this.
"Recently, we launched our smoking prevention action plan, 'Scotland's Future is Smoke-Free', backed by £9 million over the next three years, to further reduce smoking levels in Scotland – which have already been falling in recent years," he said.
"A key proposal is to end the display of cigarettes in shops to make them less accessible and attractive to our young people, because we know that 80 per cent of smokers start in their teens."
