Fewer and fewer women in the UK are dying of breast cancer every year, a report has found, with the rate improving more quickly than in most other European countries.
While Iceland topped the table with a 45% reduction, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland came directly behind with respective declines of 35%, 30% and 29%. Luxembourg came in third place with 34%.
In France, Finland, and Sweden, meanwhile, death rates decreased by 11%, 12% and 16%.
Researchers writing in the British Medical Journal said they had complete confidence in the reliability of their investigation, which contradicts an earlier report claiming that UK survival rates are among the poorest in the EU.
The authors said: “Changes in breast cancer mortality after 1988 varied widely between European countries, and the UK is among the countries with the largest reductions.”
Some 30 countries were included in the analysis.
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