Advocates urge P.E.I. to move swiftly on lung cancer screening program

Prince Edward Island is falling behind its Atlantic neighbours when it comes to detecting lung cancer, advocates say. 

The province needs to create a lung cancer screening program, staff with the Canadian Cancer Society told a provincial standing committee on Feb. 5.

"We know that when it is identified at its early stages it is much more treatable and it improves the health outcomes, whereas at a later stage survival rates are… not as good," said Heather Mulligan, the society's manager of advocacy in the Atlantic provinces.  

P.E.I. does not currently have a screening program for lung cancer, despite the province's commitment to create one. 

That makes the Island the last province in Atlantic Canada to implement or announce plans to develop such a program, Mulligan said. 

Effects on Islanders

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among both men and women in P.E.I., and the province's incidence rate is above the national average.

Some Islanders are finding out they have lung cancer "quite by accident," said Mulligan.

"It's through other pathways. It's by going to the emergency office. You have a secondary symptom only to find out after the fact that it's been lung cancer," she said. 

Mulligan urged the government to create a screening program through Health P.E.I. that "properly triages and provides... support to patients and their loved ones." 

She noted that bringing a lung cancer screening program to the Island is a key component of the province's own cancer action plan. 

Health equity 

While P.E.I. is falling behind when it comes to lung cancer, Mulligan said the province is ahead of the curve on screening and treatment for conditions like HPV and breast cancer. 

The difference in access to care from province to province "speaks to the broader health equity issue," Mulligan said. 

"We talk about a universal health-care system. Is it acceptable that you can get certain screening and some certain tools and certain treatments in one province, but it's not available in the other?" 

While P.E.I. is "a leader in many ways," Mulligan said more can be done to improve access to care.

"The gap here on the Island is lung cancer."