Cancers
8.46 Cancers are a group of diverse diseases which collectively accounted for around 27% of deaths in the South West in 2006. However, the mortality rate for all cancers in the South West is lower than compared to England as a whole (see table).
8.47 Cancers must be tackled on two fronts. The first is to reduce incidence, the number of people contracting the disease. The second is to reduce mortality, the number of people dying from the disease. Different cancers are susceptible to different strategies, but it is recognised that giving up smoking is the single most useful strategy for the individual.