Lung and liver deaths buck overall trend

HEALTH figures released today reveal that more people in Guernsey are dying from lung cancer and liver disease. The 106th Medical Officer of Health's annual report shows that while the total number of deaths recorded last year was down to 538 against an average of 557 between 1999 and 2003, lung cancer claimed 37 lives compared with 26.4. Alcoholic liver disease and cirrhosis deaths increased to 4 against 1.2.

The report comes six weeks after the publication of Healthier Islands, a comprehensive five-year overview of trends in health and care in Guernsey.

But director of public health Dr David Jeffs advised that people should not read too much into yearly statistics.

'Guernsey has always had a tendency to overinterpret annual data,' he said. 'You have two break-ins at residential homes one year and three the next and people say there's a crime wave.'

He said the only way you could really interpret low figures was to aggregate them over longer periods ' five years, for instance.

'Single figures might be interesting, but they don't really mean anything at all.'

The MoH annual report, published since 1899 including during the Occupation, heralds a departure in emphasis this year. According to Dr Jeffs, it is shorter, snappier and more readable. He has been keen to focus on the people who provide the island's health care and the importance of a joint approach.

'We've already said what we have achieved. Now we are telling how we did it,' he explained.

'What the report does demonstrate is that ensuring the best health for the greatest number at the most affordable cost depends on both sound knowledge of the facts and effective team work.'